XMen Evolution: SEASON 5
by Kare-San
Summary: ON HIATUS: X-Men Evolution, starting from the end of season 4. Some more mature themes, hence the rating. The chapters are 'EPISODES,' generally 20 pages long!
1. Episode 1: Fragile Hearts, Part One

**Season Five**

These stories are set after the end of Season 4 of X-Men Evolution, Hence the title, SEASON FIVE. As standard disclaimers go, I don't own the characters (I wish I did) but one day I will work for Marvel, you just wait and see!! 

The stories do have some more mature themes to them, themes that wouldn't come up in the show, hence the R rating. It's nothing outrageous, but I wanted to be cautious all the same. 

_Fragile Hearts: Part One_

Rogue woke up in a cold sweat, heart and head pounding in synch. She'd thought the nightmares would cease with the defeat of Apocalypse a week and a half beforehand, but as things were she was having no such luck. She could still see his aged face, feel the horrible ripping of the minds she had stolen from her body. She could feel his fury as she sealed him away in the Eye of Ages. Logan said he'd probably been whisked into the stream of time a thousand and one times to reassure her, but she had her suspicions. A mutant that powerful, she believed, could not be defeated so easily. He was out there, somewhere or some when, waiting for her. Rogue looked at her clock. It was two-thirty in the morning. 

She got up and went down to the kitchen for a drink, hoping she would be the only one there. Unfortunately fate had other plans. Alex, Scott's brother, who like Tabitha and Warren had joined the other mutant teens at the mansion after Apocalypses downfall, was sitting in the kitchen with an ice pack in his hands. 

"Hey Rogue," he murmured, putting the ice pack down and rubbing his hands together for a minute. "What're you doing up?" 

"Thirsty," she replied, holding up a carton of orange juice she had retrieved from the fridge. She poured herself a glass, drank it in silence, then nodded at him. "See ya latah." 

He nodded, groaning as a spasm of pain racked his joints. The poor kid's powers had been growing steadily, that's why he had finally decided to stay. Scott had been enthusiastic about having his brother back again, even under such stressing circumstances. 

Rogue trudged up the stairs weakly when she heard a crack of lightning outside. Through the big windows it lit up the whole hallway. Rogue jumped. She supposed that she had been in such a dead sleep that she hadn't even heard the rain, though she had noticed in on her way downstairs. She hoped it wouldn't wake Kitty up. Rogue's roommate tended to phase through the bed anytime lightning disturbed her from her sleep and Rogue was often times the only other person awake to retrieve her. 

The door whipping open startled her even more and four figures with raincoats came trudging in. She recognized who was holding the door open immediately- the big blue hands and lovingly adorned fedora gave it away. It was Beast and Ororo (judging by the white hair) followed by two others, one a large, bulky figure in a poncho, the other a distinctly smaller and scrawnier one than the first. The former had his coat pulled over his head since he had no hood. 

"Ororo, my dear, as much as I love you, it is a great tragedy that you cannot fix weather conditions all around the globe, otherwise Peter's plane might have been on time," Beast said. 

Rogue now looked upon the scene with added curiosity. Peter? Who was Peter? And why were Storm and Beast sent to retrieve him from the airport? Was he a new student perhaps? 

"I am terribly sorry Hank, but there is simply nothing I can do about it," Ororo replied, delicately removing her hood. 

"Is not a problem. I am sorry you had for to wait for me," the larger of the two other figures said. He removed his poncho, confirming Rogue's suspicions about who he was from his accent. It was Colossus, a former member of Magneto's elite team. So, his name was Peter. Who then was the other figure? Peter's brother perhaps? 

"Don' worry 'bout it homme. I'm jus' glad I didn't have to wait outside for you, _non_?" 

Rogue felt her heart skip a beat. That accent she could recognize anywhere. The last words the voice had said to her were still echoing in her mind. 

_"You will be fine, Rogue. You got people watchin' out for you."_

"Yes, with Peter's flight delayed for so long we were able to leave the airport to pick you up right on time and return before his flight even got in, Gambit," Beast acknowledged. 

"_Si vou plait,_ _Monsieur_ McCoy, call me Remy, or LeBeau, whichever suits you best," Gambit said generously, taking his sopping wet trench coat off. It was the first time Rogue had seen him in anything other than his trench coat and uniform. He was wearing blue jeans and a simple black tee shirt which offset the red in his eyes nicely. These were glowing slightly. He looked around and whistled. "Dis is one big house. . . I used t' steal from places like dis." 

" 

Yes, well I'd greatly appreciate it if you refrain from doing so here Remy. You'll find we are more than adequate at supplying you with a bit of spending money," said another voice, which Rogue recognized to be Xavier's. He had just wheeled in from his first floor study. 

Remy looked like he'd just been handed an early Christmas present. "You people give out spendin' money here? Is dere a catch?" 

Xavier smiled, "Well you do have to help with the chores." 

Remy grinned. "Dat's nothin' compared t' what Jean Luc would have me do. Xavier, _mon ami_, we have a deal." 

It then dawned on Rogue what was happening. Like Tabitha and Warren and Alex, Peter and Remy must have decided after the Apocalypse incident they wanted to be in a safer place. Gambit hadn't been directly involved in defeating Apocalypse, because no one could find him in time, but Xavier must have contacted the both of them afterwards and offered a place to stay. From the looks of it, they had both accepted. 

Ororo looked up and saw Rogue standing at the top of the stairs, looking down at them. A concerned look crossed her face. Almost everyone in the mansion knew that Rogue was still having problems dealing with what had happened over the past month or so. "Rogue? Is that you child?" 

Remy's head snapped up faster than the others and he winked and blew her a kiss. Rogue blushed and stammered, 

"Ah'm fine. . . Ah was jus' a bit thirsty, that's all." She held onto the banister tightly. For some unknown reason she couldn't take her eyes off Gambit. 

"Ah, _cherie_, how nice to see you again, _non_?" Gambit smiled. 

Rogue returned the smile, but a bit nervously. Xavier also smiled at her, but added with a slight frown, "Did you have another nightmare?" 

Rogue flushed. She didn't want Remy or Peter to know that she was having nightmares like a scared little girl. Given, they would hear about it soon enough, but this was embarrassing. "Ah. . . Yes," she murmured quietly. 

Xavier's frown grew. He opened up his mouth to say something more but Beast quickly interjected. "We have to get the boys rooms sir. I'm sure Rogue's dreams can be dealt with tomorrow?" 

Rogue sighed in relief. Dr. McCoy was getting her off the hook. Xavier agreed with him, realizing that he was putting Rogue in a somewhat awkward situation, and gestured towards the boys. "Come now, you must be tired." 

Peter followed the professor obediently, with Storm and Beast following behind him. Beast flashed Rogue a thumbs-up and she smiled. He was a great guy. Remy lingered for a moment longer than the rest of them and bowed dramatically to her, but by the time he looked up again, she was gone. Remy looked confused for a moment, but then a wide grins spread onto his face. 

"I can play de game _cherie_," he whispered. "I can play it real well." 

* 

Rogue shut her bedroom door quietly and leaned up against it, breathing heavily. Her mind was racing. The sight of Remy had made her heart pound faster than her nightmare had and she didn't know why. It wasn't like she 'liked' him or anything. He was just flirting anyway. It was nothing serious. Nope. Nothing she had to concern herself with at all. 

If that was so, why was she reacting like this? Why had he deliberately given her the Queen of Hearts card the last time they had seen each other? 

There was a simple answer to that. She had gotten him out of a jam. He had said the card had gotten him out of jams before. There, that was the connection. He would have given her the two of clubs if that had been the card that he used last. 

Rogue crawled under her covers, but couldn't get to sleep for a while. She listened to her own breathing for an awfully long while, until finally she slipped into another fitful sleep. 

* 

In the morning Xavier formally introduced the mansion residents to their newest house mates. Peter looked very shy about it but in no time at all Remy was joking around with Kurt and flirting with any of the females that came his way. It was a Saturday morning, so not everyone was up yet. . .and the group of sleepy heads included Rogue. Xavier grew worried as more and more of the students came down in their pajamas but there was still no sign of the troubled female mutant. 

Logan noticed Xavier's furrowed brow, took a glance around the room and murmured, "Want me t' see if she's okay, Chuck?" knowing exactly who he was looking for. 

Xavier's eyes looked up at Wolverine's face for a moment then he nodded. "Perhaps that would be the best-" 

At that moment a weary Rogue began slowly coming down the stairs. Usually she had showered and dressed before she was seen in public, but today was an exception. She had put on slippers and her gloves to reduce the amount of skin she had showing to her normal levels. Logan and Xavier cast each other concerned looks. Rogue was softly moaning and rubbing her temples. When she heard the racket in the kitchen she winced and looked like she was going to flee back upstairs. However Scott came up behind her. "Hey Rogue, sleep well?" 

Rogue looked up at him, bleary eyed. "Are ya kiddin'?" 

Scott's face suddenly twisted into a frown. "Rogue- are you all right?" 

"It's jus' a headache," she mumbled. "Ah. . . .Ah had nightmares again. . ." She mumbled under her breath. 

Scott glanced down the stairs hearing Xavier's mental voice call out to him. 

_Try to get her to talk Scott. _

"What about?" Scott said as much to Rogue as to Xavier. 

"Ah. . ." She sighed and touched her head. "Ah'm not sure. It's. . .someone else's ya know?" Rogue said in a pained tone. "There's. . . Someone there. A figure Ah don' recognize. An'. . ." she winced, "then all Ah can see is a flash of silvah. . .and red. . .everywhere. . ." She whispered fearfully. Her eyes looked glazed. Her face paled and she seemed to be staring right through Scott. It chilled Scott to the bone. 

"Rogue?" 

"No. . ." She gasped in a choked whisper. 

"Rogue?!" Scott said again. 

Rogue twitched convulsively, and then gasped sharply. She shuddered and put her face in her hands. 

"What's wrong?" Scott asked putting a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. 

"They were trying t' kill me. . .or whomever that memory belonged to. They- they missed. . .nicked the shoulder. . .tryin' f'r th' throat. . ." Her hands instinctively flew to the tender spot. 

"Rogue it's okay-" Scott began. 

"Scott?" Jean's curious tone distracted the two other mutants. Rogue suddenly looked away from the both of them turning red slightly. She knew that Jean and Scott were pretty much dating. Jean probably thought Rogue was trying to make the moves on Scott. 

"Jean," Scott said. "Hey. I was just trying to help Rogue with something." _Jean? Can you hear me?_ He asked with his thoughts. 

"Oh, I see," Jean smiled. She added silently, _Yeah, what's up? _

"Sorry," Rogue murmured . "Ah'll jus' head down-" 

"No, hang on a second Rogue," Scott said. "I don't want you to go yet." _Rogue had a bad dream last night- and it really seems to have shaken her up. Do you think that if I got her to talk about it a little more you could pick up what she's thinking?_

_Perhaps,_ Jean replied. _ But what makes you think I could get into her head? Can't the professor-_ __

The professor's mental voice broke in. _ Rogue's mind has always been hard for me to get into. When your powers went out of control Jean your mind and Rogue's bonded in a unique way. You may have a window into her mind that I do not._ __

Rogue squirmed uncomfortably. "Ah- Ah really should go," she murmured. Scott and Jean appeared to staring at each other. 

"Rogue, stay," Jean said. "You look really pale. Are you all right?" 

"Ah'm fine," she hissed gently. 

Jean decided that Rogue didn't feel comfortable with her around. She nodded and said, "Okay. . .but you know you can come and talk to me anytime right?" 

"Anytime, right," Rogue echoed. She was getting lost in her thoughts again. That knife. . . The pain shooting through 'her' shoulder. . . The fear of the knife coming down again, not missing this time. . . 

Jean reached out mentally towards the girl at the top of the stairs as she descended into the kitchen, and was shocked at the vividness of Rogue's dream-memory. She gasped in shock as Rogue recalled the pain. Rogue's head whipped around and she glared at Jean. 

"What the hell d'ya think ya doin'?" Rogue accused, certain of why Jean had reacted badly at that specific point in time. 

"I-" Jean began but Xavier cut her off. 

"I asked her to help you Rogue. I thought she could relate better than I could," he lied ever so slightly. 

"Ah don' need _ her _ help!" Rogue said furiously, storming back towards her room. Scott sighed. Jean looked dismayed. 

"It's all right Jean," Xavier reassured her. "That was more my fault than yours. She's not angry with you." 

Jean wasn't so sure about that, but said nothing. She entered the kitchen. Remy looked up hopefully. "Man, anudder beautiful girl, but not de face I be hopin' t' see," Remy said with a hint of humor. Jean found herself a bit charmed by his comment. 

"And who exactly are you looking for?" Jean asked. 

"_Ma belle cherie _ Rogue," Remy replied with a grin. "Do you know where she at?" 

Jean's face turned grave. "She's not really up for visitors at the moment." 

"I t'ought I 'eard her jus' a moment ago-?" Remy said, puzzled. 

"Rogue's got some issues she's been dealing with lately Gambit," said Scott, entering the kitchen with a very serious look on his face. 

Remy's expression suddenly changed to match Jean's. "Issues? She wasn't hurt by Apocalypse, was she?" 

"Not in the final battle," Scott murmured, "but that whole thing with Mystique and Mesmero left her pretty drained." Scott tweaked his glasses. "Your little trip with her did alleviate some of that, but Rogue power isn't the most stable, and neither is her mental state. She's still pretty shaken up." 

Remy nodded. "I see." 

Their somber mood was broken by Kitty's high pitched laughter. She'd been talking quietly to Peter in the corner, but now the Russian was blushing furiously and she was giggling uncontrollably. 

"Forgive us comrades," he said in a husky tone. "I think I have made a mistake. . ." 

Kitty was wiping tears from her eyes. Jean looked over. "What's so funny?" 

The younger girl couldn't speak for laughing. 

Peter said, "I was telling her dat in my homeland we do not have as many condoms as you Americas do to put on our food." 

Remy looked like he was about to burst into rolling laughter, much like Kitty. Jean's eyes widened in confusion, and Scott blinked several times behind his glasses. 

"Condoms? On our food?" 

"Like ketchup and mustard. . ." 

Now Remy cracked up, and Scott couldn't help but snicker. Kitty was positively dying of laughter and Logan and Xavier, who had walked in on this very interesting conversation were trying to keep themselves under control. 

"Oh, you mean __ _condiments_ __," Scott said. 

Peter scratched his head. "What is the difference?" 

"Well, __ _condiments_ __ are food and. . . _ Condoms_ __. . . You use them when you're. . .you know. . .doing something intimate. . ." 

Peter looked more confused then ever, then it dawned on him. "Oh. . .oh dear. . ." His face went even redder. 

Remy clapped him on the back heartily. "Don't worry about it too much __ _mon ami_ __," he grinned. "You gave us all a good laugh, __ _non _?" 

Peter mumbled in embarrassment. The professor smiled reassuringly at him and coughed gently. "Perhaps we should help you with your English lessons," he suggested in a kind tone. 

"Yes. . .yes that would probably be a good idea," the big fellow said quietly. He follow Xavier out of the kitchen. As soon as he was gone Wolverine snickered and speared an apple on his claws. 

"I'm goin' out for a ride if anyone needs me," he said gruffly, his shoulders shaking with suppressed mirth. 

Kitty, finally catching her breath, said, "Aw, the poor thing. He's such a sweet guy, really. I feel bad about laughing at him." 

Scott shook his head. "I don't think he took it too personally." 

A few minutes later, when Remy had settled into talking with Kitty, Jean and Scott, his empathic sense kicked in suddenly and he turned his head. Sure enough a troubled looking Rogue, now dressed, came in through the doorway. 

"Good mornin' _cherie_!" He said cheerily. 

She didn't look at him. She was holding two painkillers in her hand and she fumbled around in the cupboard for a glass. She filled it with water and downed the pills. The others watched quietly. Rogue seemed oblivious to their presence. For the most part she was. Her head was pounding. She could hardly think above the roar, let alone hear. 

Kurt picked that moment to teleport back into the kitchen. He had just taken a shower and was in a tee-shirt with the name of a local band scrawled across it and a air of tattered blue jeans. He looked like he was about to ask them something when Rogue suddenly retched behind him. 

Everyone was up out of their chairs immediately. Rogue was over the sink, chest heaving. The memories flashing through her head had taken a more gruesome turn. She remembered a second part to the dream now. She had wrestled the knife away from her attacker, and slashed him across the face. He had then pulled out a gun and taken shaky aim, but she had thrown the knife at him. Her aim planted the metal in between his eyes, and she saw them glaze over and the body pitch forward to land on top of her. . . 

She quietly emptied the contents of her stomach, which wasn't much, just the painkillers, water, and the orange juice she had drunk the night before. The latter made her esophagus burn like crazy. 

Rogue realized dully that Kitty was holding her hair back for her and Kurt was offering her another glass of water. She took it greedily and sipped it gently, not wanting to upset her stomach even more. 

"Are you, like, sick? What's going on?" Kitty asked in concern. 

"Ah- Ah killed him. . ." Rogue whispered. 

Kurt looked a bit more than startled. "Killed who Rogue?" 

"Th' man who-" she touched her shoulder. Kurt looked at it confused. 

"Who vhat?" 

Scott's voice reached her ears. "The man from the dream? The one who stabbed you in the shoulder?" 

Rogue nodded silently. 

Remy's hand flew to his shoulder involuntarily. "Stabbed you- killed him?" He suddenly seemed very nervous. "How?" 

"Threw his knife. . .he pulled out a gun. . ." 

Remy sat down weakly in a chair nearby. Jean glanced at him. "Gambit-?" 

"Dese nightmares. . . Dey're from mem'ries of other people, _non_?" He said quietly. 

"_Ja_," Kurt said quickly. "But how would you know dhat?" 

Remy closed his eyes. "Dat's one o' mine," he murmured. 

Startled, Rogue turned to look at him. "Wh- what?" 

"De man. . .is Julien's uncle. Former patriarch of de Rippers," Remy said slowly. "He hated Jean Luc more den Julien an' I hate each other. . . And dat's sayin' somet'ing." 

Rogue closed her eyes and murmured softly, "He kidnapped ya when ya were. . .eleven. . .tryin' t' get revenge on Jean Luc. He planned- he was gonna slit your throat an'. . . And send Jean Luc th' pieces." 

Remy shook his head. "Oh no, not pieces. He only had one feature he was gonna send_. _He planned on gouging out my eyes, and shippin' dem off in a jar wit' a lovely little letter of condolences." His eyes were glazed with the memory. "Managed to slip outta de ropes. . .but he caught on pretty quick. He lunged at me, but I was faster. . . But not by much." 

Rogue, looking back down into the sink, mumbled, "Yah shoulder. . ." 

Remy continued nodding only slightly at Rogue. "I got hold o' de knife. . . T'ought I could hold de man back. . . He went for his pistol an' I did the only thing dat I could t'ink of. . . I t'rew de knife." He shuddered at the memory of the man, with the look of astonishment on his face, pitching forward. "I got out of dere as quickly as I could. . . But I was covered in blood. . ." 

Rogue and Remy's voice suddenly echoed in unison, "I can still smell it." 

Remy looked up in shock. Rogue clutched her head. "No. . .why is this happening?" 

Jean placed a hand on Rogue's shoulder. "Rogue-?" 

Rogue turned around and swatted her away, eyes suddenly blazing with red light. "No!" She shouted again. Jean took a step back. 

"_Cherie_?" Remy said quietly. "What do you see?" 

Rogue's eyes widened in shock. She gripped at her shoulder, shrieking. 

"It's playing over in her mind again!" Scott said frantically. 

_Rogue? Rogue listen to me. It's Jean. Can you hear me?_ The redhead said, reaching out to the southern girl. 

She was assaulted by images of fear. She too felt like she was in Remy's shoes at that moment, fearing for his life, the dry mouth, the blood pounding in his ears, the frantic power surging through his veins. Hours later he'd had a huge power attack- blowing up everything he touched. The stress had been too much for him to suppress for long. Once the shock had worn off, the terror had kicked in. 

"_Cherie_," Remy said again, scared for her. 

_This isn't your memory Rogue,_ Jean called out, _it's Remy's. There's no need to be scared,_ the psychic said, imposing her image over the image of Julien's uncle. 

Rogue gasped out loud and shuddered. Her eyes stopped glowing and her legs gave way underneath her. Scott quickly wrapped his arms around her, supporting her, until he could manage to get her to a chair. 

"Jean call the-" 

"Two steps ahead of you," Xavier said, wheeling himself in hurriedly. He held out his hands and brought them near Rogue's face. She flinched and shrank away from him. 

"It's all right Rogue. I'm going to help you," Xavier assured her. He brought his hands closer to her face. "Tell me Rogue, why are you having this vision?" 

"Would Ah still be havin' it if Ah knew?" She said in a hard, bitterly upset tone. 

"Rogue, please, help _me_ help _you_. You have to _relax_. Don't answer me out loud, answer me with your feelings, your _thoughts_." 

Rogue slowly closed her eyes and tried to grasp her feelings. Fear. She was scared of the way her powers were acting lately. The nightmares, the way she had gone out of control only a little more than a month ago. She never felt quite in control again, there was always that nagging doubt, that fear, that feeling. Xavier felt a deep, fearful thought hanging there. Something she had absorbed from Mystique. 

The memory of a conversation. 

Mystique and Irene Adler had been discussing what was upcoming in Rogue's life. Irene had foreseen Rogue's power outburst. Irene had warned Mystique that Rogue would play a key role in the future. . . But may not live to see it. 

Though Rogue knew she had survived the ordeal in question, and had played out her role, she was mortified by the thought that is her powers went haywire again she might not survive the encounter. 

The stress had really been eating away at her since then, and Xavier hadn't noticed. He should have though. The way she had shoved Mystique off of the cliff. . . It had all been adding up until that breaking point. After that, the stress was temporarily relieved by the abrupt trip she had taken with a certain Cajun charmer. After defeating Apocalypse, though, her mind had begun to wander back to that fear since there was nothing else to occupy her thoughts. 

Xavier couldn't forgive himself for not noticing. 

Last night she had had nightmares again, and the sight of Remy had triggered his memories inside of her. Her fear of death had found a similar memory and latched onto it, playing it over and over in her mind. 

Xavier let his thoughts soothe her. He slowly banished the nightmarish image from her consciousness and gently removed the memory of the conversation from her mind as best he could. He knew the feeling of dread would linger, and she wouldn't be sure why, but it was the best for her. 

Rogue slumped in her chair. Xavier back out of her mind suddenly. He frowned in a worried way. "She's all right, just exhausted." He said to the other concerned students. His mind picked up a frantic thought and her turned in it's direction. Remy was looking quite pale. "I can assure you, in but a few moments she'll wake up." 

Kitty thoughtfully phased her hand through the freezer door and pulled out an ice pack. She rested it on her roommate's forehead. Rogue moaned, a sound that made Remy's heart twist. It was as if her soul was wounded deeply. He shuddered for her. 

Rogue's eyes fluttered open, but the world took it's sweet time coming into focus. There was something cold on her forehead. She reached up to touch the source and felt a hand through her gloves. She moved her head slightly and heard Kitty's voice. 

"Easy Rogue," she said faintly. "You're, like, okay now." 

She tried to ask what had happened, but it came of more of a garble. She tried again. "What-?" 

"You basically had a day-mare," Xavier explained. "The memory from last night was so vivid it kept appearing to you, like a vision. . ." 

Rogue blanched. "No. . .no more visions!" She said frantically. Jean and Xavier picked up her thoughts easily- they were almost deafening. The last time she had visions from her powers she had begun to go out of control. 

"Rogue, it was simply a result of stress," Xavier reassured her. "We've been monitoring your powers and we've yet to find any evidence that another incident like the previous one will occur." 

"Didja evah find any evidence that it wouldn't?" She retorted. Kitty drew away from her and Rogue put her face into her hands. "Ah'm sorry. . . Yah right. . . Too much stress an' not enough sleep. . . No wondah Ah'm flippin' out." She leaned back in her chair again, taking the ice pack from Kitty. She put it on her head again 

"I can help you sleep better," Xavier offered. "I could ease your mind. . ." 

"No!" Rogue said stubbornly. "If Ah always rely on ya, how can I evah get it under control?" 

Xavier nodded. He had to admire her spirit. "As you wish Rogue." 

Peter's head appeared in the doorway. "Professor? Is everything all right? I. . .I grew concerned." He said turning a little bit red. 

Kitty giggled. "He's really quite cute. . . If I wasn't dating Lance. . ." 

Kurt rolled his eyes. 

"Everything is all right Peter. I'll be returning shortly," Xavier said. Peter looked unsure, but then ducked away. Xavier turned to Rogue. "Will you be all right?" 

"Ah don' know, y'all tell me," she murmured. The professor was about to say he didn't hear her when she said louder, "Yeah, Ah'll be all right." 

The professor nodded, brow furrowed for a moment, then retreated back into his study. 

Rogue gave out a sigh of relief. Kitty bit her lower lip, seeing her friend shudder. The southern mutant looked up at the concerned faces around her and said irritably, "Hey, can't ya let a gal have a little room t' breathe?" 

The others moved back and Rogue got up, still holding the ice pack on her head. With one hand she dumped the water out of her glass, rinsed it a few times, then refilled it with fresh water. She took a few sips, sloshed it around in her mouth and spit it out. She rinsed the sink without looking at it, repeated her drink-and-spit unceremoniously. Rogue again seemed oblivious to the world around her. She could hear the rumbling of voices inside her head. She took a long chug of the water and swallowed slowly, with a great effort. 

Scott was about to place a hand on her shoulder when Jean held him back at the last second, shaking her head. Rogue turned around to see them and grumbled. They both looked guilty. 

"What?" Rogue snapped. "Don' let me interrupt whatevah yah doin'. No need t' spare mah feelin's." 

They both looked at her confused. Remy's empathic sense picked up surges of jealousy and sorrow. Judging by the way Rogue pushed between them and the way Kitty and Kurt looked at each other knowingly, they obviously knew more than the two older mutants. Remy took a small guess, but he was betting that Rogue had a thing for Scott. He was also pretty sure the feeling wasn't mutual. 

Rogue moved towards the kitchen door. 

"Where are you going?" asked Kitty. 

"Outside! Ah need some fresh air!" Rogue replied shortly. Her head still felt a little fuzzy from the 'vision' she had. Kitty made a move as if to go after her, then stopped and watched sadly as her roommate left the house. 

"She has it pretty hard," Kitty murmured. 

"_Ja_," Kurt agreed with her. "I only vish ve could do something." 

Kitty added, "You know, we haven't even thought about how Gambit feels- it's _his_ memory after all," and she turned to look at where the Cajun had been standing, but he was gone. 

* 

Xavier was right, Rogue was almost sure of it now. Her vision in the kitchen was just a result of stress. She _hadn't_ been sleeping well and that wasn't helping. Sleep deprived and scared of her powers wasn't the best combination for a healthy lifestyle for her. How could she sleep if she kept living in the nightmarish memories of others? 

Rogue leaned heavily on a tree, and then slid down to the ground slowly. She pulled her legs up to her chest and hugged them, hiding her face in her kneecaps. 

She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt someone slip an arm around her shoulders and say in a quiet voice, "_Cherie_?" 

Her head shot up violently and she jerked away from him as if stung. "Wha' th' hell d'ya think ya do'n?" Her accent was thick with fear. 

"_Cherie_, please understand. I kno' you're hurtin'. . .an' s'my fault. I wanted t' make sure you're okay." His voice was filled with such sincerity that Rogue couldn't help but relax. He slipped an arm around her shoulder again, but she gently shrugged it off. Instead of replacing it, he let the fallen arm wrap gently around her waist, tugging her closer to him. 

Rogue squirmed out of his grasp and stood up, face red and absolute fury in her eyes. "What are ya playin' at Remy?!" She nearly shrieked. 

Remy looked wounded. "Gambit ain't playin' at nothin' _cherie_," he said with a look of confusion. "What you talkin' 'bout?" 

"What am Ah 'talkin' 'bout'? she repeated, furiously. "LeBeau, you jus' don' get it do you? Let me spell it out f'r ya. Ah. Can't. Touch. Anyone. Evah. What kind of game you playin'? Y'all can't touch me! Don' even think about tryin' t' convince me ya wanna get near t'me 'cause that's _bull shit_ an' you know it!" 

Her fear was wrapped around her so tightly that Remy thought that she would begin to suffocate at any moment. He could feel it building and multiplying. Remy stood up. "I told you I be lookin' out f'r you. Dat's what I'm doing _cherie_." 

_"Ah don need help!_" Rogue shouted. "Not from ya, or anyone else!" 

"You don' need help or you refuse t' ask f'r it?" Gambit retorted. He didn't mean to be harsh, he just wanted to shock her into silence. 

He didn't do so well. 

"PICK ONE!" Rogue roared. "Ah don' care! What could any o' you do anyway?!" 

"We can _be_ there _cherie._ Dere a lotta people worried 'bout you in dat house. Kurt, Kitty, Scott an' Jean, the professor . . . And there's so many more." He cupped her chin in his hand. "An' me. Especially me." 

Rogue took a step back and slapped him across the face. "Don' you _dare_ touch me again!" She shivered. He didn't have fingers on his gloves. He had been careful not to make skin contact, but the sheer closeness of his skin was enough to spook her. 

"_Cherie_," Gambit said in surprise, touching his face. He hadn't read her right with his empathic abilities. It was quite a bit of a shock. 

"Jus' leave me alone!" she shrieked. She turned away and began to dart off. 

With the swiftness and the skill of a seasoned thief Remy had grabbed her hand, whirled her around and pulled he back towards him. She looked absolutely astonished at his audacity. 

"Jus' listen t' me for a second, _cherie_. I wanna help you." 

Rogue tried to pull away but his grip was too firm. "Get offa me!" She tugged at his hand. 

"I don' give up dat easily _cherie_," Gambit murmured. He grabbed her other hand and pulled her towards him. "Especially when I'm determined about somet'ing." His eyes glittered. 

Rogue shoved him hard. "Stay away from me!" She said frantically, her heart racing. That look in his eyes. It was so hungry and longing. As soon as his hands were off of her she bolted again. 

"Rogue!" Remy cried out as she slipped from his grasp. He didn't mean to upset her. Remy could feel her fear, her doubts wafting off of her like a horrible perfume. He ran a hand through his hair. He wondered whether going after her would be a good thing, then decided that she needed some time alone. 

Rogue was breathing in short, harsh, gasps. She couldn't believe him! He was trying to flirt with her! A little part of her was thrilled by the prospect, but mostly she was filled with a impending sense of dread. She ran blindly until she bumped into someone. She shoved him aside and raced back towards the mansion. 

"Rogue-?!" Warren blinked as the southern girl pushed past him. Her eyes were filling with tears, and he made a move as if to follow her, but stopped after a few steps. Rogue didn't even notice him. 

A few of the younger mutants scattered from her path as Rogue rushed to her room. Ororo, who was watering a plant in the hallway with a small rain cloud, stepped aside in astonishment. Rogue somehow managed to fumble her door open and fling herself onto her bed. Storm slowly entered the room. 

"Rogue, child?" Ororo said softly. 

"Storm-" Rogue choked. Her eyes were red. She shifted into a sitting position on her bed. Ororo practically glided over the floor. She sat on the bed and began to wrap an arm around the younger mutant, but she noticed that Rogue flinched as her arm came near. Storm let her it fall lightly behind Rogue. 

"Do you need to talk about anything?" Storm asked quietly. 

Rogue could have talked until her jaw fell off. She put a hand to her face and groaned. "Ah- Ah've had a rough day. . . A rough couple o' nights. . ." 

"Your powers are bothering you again?" Storm asked quietly. 

"Been bothahin' me since Ah got 'em," Rogue replied mournfully. "But th' nightmares- they're beginning t' affect me. . . More 'n' usual. Th' professor thinks it's stress." 

Storm patted her on the back. "Rogue, out of all of the students here you've got the most reason to be stressed. You also have the most reason to be proud of yourself, and your powers." 

Rogue knew what she was referring to. She looked up at her. "Ah didn' do anythin'. It was th' little Leech boy's powahs, an' it was Logan's plan." 

"But you had to go in there, with Apocalypse, on your own. You faced the creature that had used you like a puppet, and overpowered him." 

"Mystique used me like a puppet," Rogue said bitterly. 

"And Apocalypse was using her, therefore using you." 

Rogue dropped her head onto her pillow. "Storm?" 

"Yes my child?" She questioned gently. 

"Ah need some time t' think, please," her muffled request came through the pillow. 

"All right. I am here for you if you need to talk, as are we all," Storm reminded her. 

That reminded her of Remy's comment. She shifted and murmured, "Ah know." 

Storm patted her on the back again. She got up, hesitated for a moment, then left the room and closed the door behind her. 

* 

Remy sat on the roof of the mansion. He was tossing cards into a hat he had somehow placed in a nearby tree. "Damn fool you are boy," he scolded himself. "Let your heart o'erride your head." 

"Dhis isn't exactly dhe most comfortable spot ins dhe mansion Gambit," Kurt said, a 'bamf' signaling his arrival. 

Remy rolled his eyes. "I t'ought it was one of de mos' quiet places _mon ami_.," he gave Kurt a wry smile. 

"_Ja_, in most places dhe roof would be pretty quiet, but dhis is a house of mutants _Mien frieund_." Kurt watched as Remy landed another card in the hat. "Something bothering you?" 

"Oh, dis and dat," he mumbled. 

Kurt tilted his head curiously. "You know, I've wanted to dhank you for some time now." 

Remy blinked. "Fo' what?" 

"For making Rogue come back to us." 

Remy turned to look at him with one eyebrow raised and a bemused expression on his face. "Seems t' me dat de girl came back to you of her own accord." 

"Dhat's not what I mean," Kurt said. "Rogue was growing dhistant from us all. You brought her back to us." 

"Huh," Remy snorted. "Guess it was only temporary," he said airily. 

Kurt shook his head. "You're wrong. Sure, Rogue had it tough, and she still acts like she's on another planet or something, but she _has_ been talking to us. She was trying to shut out dhe world, but she saved it instead." He held out his hand. 

Remy took it up and shook it, but sighed. "I jus' don' see it de way you do _mon ami_. She don' seem to be any better t' me." He began tossing cards again, landing each one neatly in the center of the hat. 

Kurt's tail twisted around behind him. He eyed Remy suspiciously. "So, how'd things go wit' Rogue, you know after dhe kitchen?" 

Remy's card missed. He scowled. "Who said I wen' after Rogue?" 

"Just a lucky guess," Kurt said, watching the card fall. 

Remy tossed another card. It landed in the hat. "Oh, t'ings went real well, up until de point when she slapped me." 

"So, is dhat how you got dhat lovely mark on your face? Vhat did you say to her?" 

"I don' wanna talk 'bout it," Remy's next card missed. 

Kurt gave Remy a serious look. "You know, I've never seen Rogue as relaxed as she was around you in New Orleans." 

Remy lifted his gaze to Kurt's face again. 

"I'm serious. You know, she probably vill kill me for telling you dhis, but she still has dhat card you gave her." Kurt said. "She bought a little plastic protector for it, and she keeps it hidden in her pillowcase." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I was curious about it, so I did a little spying." 

Remy tossed a card without looking and it too landed in the center of the hat. "She kept de card?" 

"_Ja_," Kurt nodded. Suddenly his ears pricked up. He turned, stood up and waved. 

Remy looked out to where Kurt was looking. There was a dark skinned, and even darker haired, female waving back up to him. "Who's dat?" 

"Amanda," Kurt said, blushing slightly. "My girlfriend." 

"Ah," Remy smirked. "So you weren't comin' up here jus' to comfort a hopeless thief?" 

Kurt shrugged. "Maybe not, but it vorked didn't it?" 

"You know what, _mon ami_? I'd have t' say _oui,_" Remy smiled at him. 

Kurt turned on his image inducer and thumped Remy on the back. "Rogue's a tough cookie, but once you dip her in some milk she's a real softy." 

Remy rubbed his temple at the strange analogy. "Dat's. . . good to know. . ." He amended it in an mumble, "I t'ink. . ." 

Kurt smiled broadly at him and then teleported down to Amanda. Remy watched the two hug, and Amanda briefly kissing the now-human looking Kurt. Remy smiled at the way Kurt acted embarrassed at the contact. Then the two put their arms around each other and walked off. 

Remy dropped off of the roof, landing with an expert flare. He took out his Bo staff and began spinning it expertly. Maybe things weren't looking so bad for him after all. 

* 

Jean and Scott were doing dishes in the kitchen. The dishwasher was full and running, but in a house of so many there were a lot more dishes that were used in a day that any dishwasher could hold, even an industrial size one. Jean was washing and using her telekinesis to pass the washed dishes to Scoot, who then dried them. 

"So, how was your shopping spree with Taryn yesterday?" Scott asked. 

"Oh, it was great," Jean beamed. "I got a couple of really cute outfits. Taryn had a harder time though." She laughed softly at the memory of her friend trying on six or seven shirts in every color and not finding one that she liked. 

"So," Scott coughed, "uh, what would you say to breaking in one of those outfits?" 

Jean looked at him curiously. "What do you mean?" 

"Well, uh," his cheeks suddenly matched his glasses. "I was wondering if you'd like to go out to eat, with me, tonight?" 

"Scott, I'd love to," Jean smiled. After mentally placing the last dish in the dish drain she tugged off the yellow latex gloves, and pushed some of her hair behind her ears. Scott smiled nervously at her and she returned the smile. He leaned towards her, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He stammered something incoherent, but was silenced as she brought her lips up to meet his. 

Jean heard a sharp intake of breath and saw someone pull back from the kitchen door out of the corner of her eye. She broke away from Scott quickly. 

"What-? Do I have bad breath or something-?" he began, but Jean put up a hand to silence him. 

Jean could feel a twinge of embarrassment, sorrow, and, most of all, longing from the person outside the door. She whispered under her breath to Scott, "It's Rogue." 

At first Scott was just embarrassed himself, but then he caught the worried look in Jean's eye. He realized then the _full_ implications of what Rogue had seen. Two people sharing a moment, an instant of love, something which she could never have. Not in that way. 

Rogue leaned against the wall breathing slowly. She'd finally come to grips with what Ororo had discussed with her earlier, and, much to her relief, she had fallen asleep for a while. She hadn't had any troubling visions, not one nightmare. . . At least not until she came downstairs. 

_Ya know that Scott an' Jean are a couple ya idiot. O' course they're gonna do that sorta thing! _she chided herself. It did come as sort of a blow. She had still, somewhere inside of her, hoped that Scott and Jean weren't going to work out and she would have a chance with him. Obviously, this was no longer the case. 

The kitchen was very silent all of a sudden. Rogue didn't feel comfortable being there any more. She Slipped away from the wall and began walking in any direction she could think of, just wandering around the mansion. 

Jean felt her retreat and frowned. "She's gone. . . But I'm worried about her Scott. Her thoughts were so. . . Desolate." 

A frown also played across Scott's features. He wasn't sure what they could do. "If anyone I know is strong enough to get through this it has to be Rogue," he said truthfully. "I mean think about it Jean. She's been dealing with the voices in her head for almost a year now and she's only had that one incident. . ." 

"That's not what I'm talking about Scott," Jean said softly. "Rogue probably could care less about the people in her head, and the nightmares, if all of that stuff didn't remind her of one fundamental thing.- she can't touch anyone without hurting them." She wrapped her hand in his. "Rogue's strong, but she's _human_ Scott. We all are. There are human emotions, human _desires_ that we all have to deal with and Rogue's no exception. The problem is, when it comes to love, or as the case may be sometimes, lust, she has to be very careful about what she does." Jean looked down at their hands. 

Scott's eyes sought out where she was looking and he frowned more. They were holding hands, which was such a simple gesture, but neither of them was wearing any sort of glove. Jean looked at him pointedly. 

"I understand," he said gruffly. Though he was overwhelmed by the pangs of sorrow that he felt for his female teammate he couldn't help but appreciate the way it made him thankful of the small grace of being able to touch Jean. He stroked her hair and pulled her in for another kiss, this one deeper, expressing his newfound appreciation. Jean's arms wrapped around his neck slowly, feeling guilty at first, but then deciding it was much better to enjoy the moment. 

* 

Kitty bumped into Rogue on her way out of the bathroom. "Hey roomie!" Kitty said enthusiastically. "How do I look?" She was wearing a light pink top and a denim skirt that looked very cute on her. She had done up her makeup and curled the hair in her ponytail. 

"Ya look good Kitty," Rogue said in a tired voice. "Goin' t' see Lance again?" 

Kitty flushed. "Yeah, that noticeable?" 

"Ya could o' had a sign or somethang, but yeah, pretty noticeable." Rogue nodded. She suddenly squirmed. Out of the original students- Kurt, Kitty, Scott, Jean and Evan,- she was the only one who wasn't paired up with someone. Well, she didn't know about Evan in truth, but he seemed awfully close to that Callisto girl. 

"Something wrong?" Kitty asked, noticing a strange look in Rogue's eye. 

"Naw, jus' noticin' how _cozy_ everyone is with one anothah," she murmured. 

Kitty sensed what was wrong before the words came out of her mouth. "You're lonely." 

Rogue shot down her words with a deadly glare. "Ah am not!" 

Kitty rolled her eyes. "You could always go look for Remy. He seems smitten with you." 

"Smitten? Him? With me?" Rogue stammered. She knew, but it was still harsh for her to hear so bluntly stated. 

"Don't pretend like you haven't noticed," Kitty said. "And you like him too." 

"Ah. Do. Not!" Rogue said firmly. 

"Yeah right." Kitty coughed and it sounded an awful lot like the phrase 'Queen of Hearts'. 

Rogue snorted. "Even if Ah did it's no o' yah busi-" she saw Remy coming down the hall and her voice swiftly died, "ness. . ." She muttered finishing her statement. 

Kitty phased down through the floor delicately, but not after pinching Rogue's heel so that she jumped forward at Remy. Rogue glared at her disappearing head. "Ah'll get ya f'r this Kitty," Rogue vowed. She tried to make a hasty exit. It was too late. He'd all ready spotted her. 

"_Cherie_, wait!" Remy said. "I wanted to apologize. I was out of line, I didn't mean it." 

"Ya said a lot of things t' not mean any of it," Rogue said, a little bit irate about the fact that if that were true, he might not be interested in her at all. She folded her arms. 

"I didn't mean t' _get you upset_," he reiterated. "I meant what I said, and I stand by it." 

Before she could think about what she was saying she blurt out, "An' what did ya mean t' say? That whole conversation confused th' hell outta me." 

"Well," he said with a lopsided grin, "Firs' I wanted t' say t' you how lovely it was t' see your smiling face last night. Second, I wanted to apologize for your nightmares and your visions, since dey were mine." He snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him. Her arms quickly unfolded and she placed her hands on his chest, ready to push him away. He said in a more husky voice "An' lastly, I wanted to tell you how very beautiful you look right now, _ma belle cherie_." 

The blood roaring in her ears and the pounding of her heart prevented Rogue from hearing the rational side of her that was screaming 'get him offa ya!'. She tensed at his touch, and turned away from his wandering eyes. Her voice cracked as she said, "What do you want from me?" 

"Don' want anything Rogue. Jus' mebbe you," He soughed. 

She felt her pulse quicken. Her body was betraying her and it made her furious! She looked back at him and their eyes locked. 

"Please Rogue," he said, his eyes boring into hers. "Jus' give me a chance." 

"No way swamp rat," she hissed. 

Rogue wasn't sure exactly what happened next. She felt herself being pushed up against the wall, a hand being clapped over her mouth. Her heart skipped a beat. On some level she noticed that Remy had changed his gloves without fingers for some sort of half glove. His two middle fingers and his thumb were covered. The others fingers he held away from her skin. She tried to protest but her words were muffled. Then all she could do was let out a small 'meep' of surprise as she saw Remy's face come near. He pressed his lips on the backside of his glove, the one that was covering Rogue's mouth. Her face was bright red in a instant. He was, in a sense, 'kissing' her. The sudden longing for him scared Rogue like nothing else that day had. She felt her lips responding to his actions, kissing his glove back. Mortified by _her_ actions, Rogue managed to twist away from his touch. 

"No. No, no, no, no, no, no, _no!_" Rogue gasped. "Ya can't do this t' me- we can't do this t' _each other_!" 

"_Cherie_. . ." Remy began, breathless. He could feel her passion, and her apprehension. 

"Don' call me that!" she said a desperately. 

Remy slipped his arm down her side. She was pinned to the wall, basically. Trapped between his arms with no where to go. "Rogue, _mon amour_," he murmured instead. "It don' matter t' me what you 'can' or 'can not' do. Don' you see? We can work around it. I'm willin', so long as you are." 

_Mon amour_. My love. The words made Rogue tremble. "No," she rasped again. 

"Rogue, you don' need t' be scared o' me. I ain't gonna hurt you." 

"Ah can kill you with a touch!" she moaned. 

He reached out for her with the two covered fingers of his glove and stroked her cheek. She shivered. "I touch you jus' then," Remy said. "Dat didn't kill me. Neither did our kiss." 

He didn't say the word kiss like she would have, with the quotations around it, making it 'kiss', unreal, a substitute. "It's- it's not the same," she stammered. 

"It don' matter." He leaned towards her. "I could 'really' kiss you. I'm not afraid, Rogue. You know dat." 

Rogue's hands traveled at near the speed of light to prevent his lips from touching hers. However, that also allowed Remy to press his body up against hers, since the support against his chest was now gone. Remy's empathic sense picked up on her yearning to be with him. He let one of his hands trace her spinal cord, from the small of her back, up to her shoulder blades, and then down again. Rogue was about to open her mouth to say something more when she heard, "What's going on, bub?" 

Remy's arms dropped from around her, and Rogue sighed in relief. Logan was glaring at Remy with suck intensity that anyone else would have peed in their pants. Remy said, "Rogue an' I were havin' a little chat, _monsieur _Logan." 

"'Bout what?" The Wolverine growled. 

"S'none o' your business," Remy said with a smile, "but if you mus' know, we were discussin' how hard it is to find a private place to talk around here." 

"Oh, really?" Logan's eyes glittered. "You could always try the danger room," his voice was dangerously soft. 

"I would, but, you know, it's so hard to discuss things wit' buzz saws an' de like flyin' atcha head." 

Logan grunted at him, then turned to Rogue. "He giving you problems, darlin'?" 

Rogue shook her head 'no'. 

Logan eyed her and then nodded. "All right then," he murmured. "I'll leave you two to 'chat' then, but I'll be within shoutin' distance." With that he stalked off. 

Remy once again turned his eyes to Rogue, who looked very shaken up. He sighed. "If you want _cherie_, I'll go." 

His empathic abilities picked up the slightest traces of lust under her confusion and fear. "Ah- Ah" she stammered. 

Remy put his glove to her lips again to silence her, and was actually a bit shocked to feel her lips moving upon it. He placed his lips on his side and gently kissed back in response. Her craving for him suddenly increased and she found herself tangling her hands in his hair. He had his one free hand on the small of her back, gently caressing her. Rogue's panic suddenly overwhelmed her, and she broke away abruptly. She pushed him off gently, and then quickly and quietly retreated down the hall. 

Remy's eyes followed her, memorizing every feminine curve and move her body made. He put his glove up to his lips and kissed where her lips had been placed. He was winning her over, but her fear of her powers was going to be a big hurtle to jump. 

* 

"I- I'm sorry that I can't take you any place really nice," Lance swallowed. He looked across the table of the soda shop at his date nervously. Kitty gave him a warm, reassuring smile. 

"It's _okay_ Lance. I know it's not easy for you to get a job around here, and I know the money is tight at the boarding house." She picked up one of his hands and rubbed it gently. 

"Yeah, well, still, I wish I could take you out for something better than a burger," he said. 

"Don't even think about it!" Kitty said. Lance looked at her in a funny way. "Do you know how little junk food they have at the mansion? We only have burgers in the summer!" 

They both laughed. He smiled at her, but she suddenly frowned. "What?" 

"You looks so. . . Gaunt. You haven't been eating a lot lately, have you? Did you run out of food at the boarding house?" She asked in concerned tones. 

"Well, the food bites," Lance said, "so mostly I get my own. . . But I've been a little short of money lately." He suddenly looked nervous. 

Kitty raised an eyebrow. "Why?" 

"I- I spent it on a gift, for you," he said quickly. He began to pull something out of his pocket. 

Then the waitress brought their food, and interrupted them. They ate with a little bit of small talk, but not much. Somewhere along the line they both forgot about the gift. After lunch they wound up back in Lance's Jeep. He drove part way to the mansion, then they pulled off the main road. Kitty wasn't alarmed. In fact, she had gotten used to this ritual. They didn't want to risk being seen by the members of either team so they had found a private spot that was all their own. Lance turned off the main engine, but kept the car running so that there was a hint of music coming from the radio. He unbuckled his seat belt and Kitty did the same. 

Lance twirl a finger through the curls Kitty had wound in her hair. "I like it this way," he said. "You remind me of Dorothy, or something." 

She laughed softly, "Unfortunately I couldn't find my blue gingham dress today," she teased. "Or my little dog." 

"You look fabulous all the same," Lance said. 

Kitty turned slightly pink at the compliment and kissed him lightly on the lips. His hands found their way to her hips, and he twisted around to face her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again, deeper this time. He returned the kiss, then made his way down to the side of her neck. She moaned quietly. He pressed up against her and kissed the hollow of her neck, her eyelids, and then back to her lips again. She found his neck and softly peppered it with kisses. It wasn't until his hands suddenly stroked her inner thigh that she realized anything was wrong. 

"Lance," she murmured, trying to catch his attention. It didn't work as well as she hoped. He responded by kissing the hollow of her neck again. It caused another longing moan to rise from her, despite her apprehension. 

His body suddenly began to weigh hers down, pressing hers into the seat. She became acutely aware of the fact that she was wearing a skirt. She felt him pulse on top of her, one hand on the small of her back, the other wandering to where it was not welcome. "Kitty," he groaned in a lustful way. 

"Lance, no!" she said, phasing her body through his immediately. His head hit the seat roughly, and he grunted. "What the hell are you doing?" she demanded. 

"Kitty- I'm sorry," he said, flipping over and seeing her angry face. "I- I couldn't help myself. . . I-" 

"This date is _over_ Lance," she said furiously. 

He shifted back into his seat. "I'll drive you-" 

"I'm walking!" Kitty nearly shouted. She phased right through the car door and began storming down the street. 

Lance dropped his head against the steering wheel, hard. He recalled what Rogue had said once, way back when she'd still been in the brotherhood. _"Gawd gave men two brains, one up, one down, but he only gave 'em enough blood t' run one at a time,"_ she had snapped at the boys as they were watching one of the many shows with women in slinky outfits. Lance realized with a heavy heart that she had probably been right. 

* 

"Hello, Kitty! How was- what happened to you?" Jean said as she saw the younger girl come stalking through the closed door of the mansion. 

"Lance it like, a total pig, ya know?" Kitty said sharply, her tone hurt. 

"In that 'he's a jerk' sense, that 'he's a brotherhood prig' sense, or that 'he's a guy' sense?" Jean asked cautiously. 

"Last one, times a hundred!" Kitty sobbed. Jean hugged the girl tightly. 

"What did he do-?" Her tone was fearful enough for Kitty to pick up on. 

"It's not what he did, so much as what he tried to do," she cried. Jean relaxed a bit, glad that Kitty had escaped any potentially scarring situation, but still feeling sorrowful for the girl. "We were, like, you know, making out and stuff, and then he got all hot and heavy, and I got out of there." 

"That's good," Jean said. 

"It's horrible!" Kitty countered. "I- I like thought he cared about me!" 

"Kitty, you can't help it if he's just another asshole," Jean said. 

"But he wasn't supposed to be!" Kitty cried. She stumbled past Jean sobbing, and made her way up to her room. Jean stood there for a few minutes, then the doorbell rang. She turned to look, and she saw Lance. 

Jean gave him her best glare, trying to imitate one of Rogue's. She didn't grant him the courtesy of talking to him. Instead she psychically snapped, _What do **you** want?_

"I wanted to make sure Kitty got home all right," he said, eyes not meeting her gaze. 

_No thanks to you_, Jean rebuked. 

"Tell her. . . Tell her I'm an ass, all right? I understand if she doesn't want to see me again." Lance bent down and placed something outside the door. "But can you give this to her for me? I. . . I meant to give it to her earlier, but forgot." He stepped back away from the door and added, "Of course, I wont be too surprised if I find it in the mailbox later as a melted down piece." 

Jean mentally snorted at him. Lance finally met her eyes. His were genuinely sorrowful, and it startled Jean a little. Lance abruptly looked away as she began to stare and then began to walk back to his jeep. 

"You know," Warren said, his wings slightly unfurled, "I thought I was going to miss all the drama of New York when I got here. Now I think it may just have been calmer _there._" He had been standing silently in a corner, watching the scene unfold. Although he hadn't heard what Jean said psychically to Lance, he had a pretty good idea. 

"Welcome to the Xavier Institute," Jean said. "Where Murphy's Law is in full effect." 

There was a loud crash and a yell of, "Ah'm okay!" From Cannonball somewhere off to their left. Jean shook her head and Warren chortled. 

"I can tell." 

Jean opened the door as Lance's jeep left through the gates of the mansion. He was going precariously fast, Jean noted. She bent over and picked you the little black box Lance had dropped off. She wondered if giving it to Kitty was a good idea, and decided to wait until a little later, when the girl might have calmed down more. 

"Hey, Jean?" Warren said suddenly. "Have you see Rogue lately? She bumped into me- literally- earlier this morning and she seemed really stressed out." 

Worry tugged on Jean's features. "I saw her this afternoon. Or rather sensed her. She-" Jean coughed, "- she caught Scott and I kissing." 

"You know," Warren said, trying to gloss over the kissing for Jean's sake, "it seems to me she's been acting really tense ever since Gambit got here." 

Jean, mind working before her ears was about to say, 'Yeah, Apocalypse really had her wired' when she heard the name 'Gambit'. "Huh?" 

"Well he arrived last night, right?" Warren gestured, his wings spreading with the action. "I was talking to Alex. He went to the kitchen for some ice around two last night and Rogue stopped down about a half an hour later for a drink. He came out just after she left and saw her stammering as Gambit arrived. From what Alex saw, he was flirting with her." 

Suddenly it connected. "Flirting? And she was responding?" Jean thought about it. Rogue had had Remy's nightmarish visions that morning. Remy had gone after her, if Jean was right, and then something happened, because Rogue bumped into Warren and didn't acknowledge him. She had heard Ororo talking to Beast about talking to Rogue, and then after doing the dishes with Scott, Jean had felt Rogue's longing for something. A longing, perhaps, to be able to touch a certain someone. "It's all making a little more sense now. . ." Jean said. 

Logan, who picked up on the tail end of the conversation said, "What's making more sense?" 

Jean looked at him and said, "I think Rogue has been so wired today because of Remy." 

Logan snorted. "I coulda toldja that Red." He stretched, taking off the leather jacket her wore while on his motorcycle. "You shoulda seen 'em a few minutes ago." Warren's wings folded and Jean's eyebrows raised. Logan gave them a sly look. "I ain't tellin' you anything. I'm not a gossipmonger. That's the elf and the half-pint's job." 

Jean sighed. Kitty definitely hadn't seen anything, and Kurt was out with Amanda. So much for that venue. Logan chuckled and went to go get a beer from the kitchen. Warren couldn't help but laugh himself. "I swear, this house, it's a living tabloid. 'Blue Furry Gossipmonger, and Ghost Girl Spy on Untouchable Girl and Demon-Eyed 'Boyfriend''. You know how much money they would pay to be able to print a story like that?" 

"I can only imagine," Jean said rolling her eyes. "It would put the 500 pound baby out of business." 

Warren laughed heartily. 

Logan came back into the foyer and said suddenly, "All right, since everyone has nothing better to do than stand around talking about each other's lives we're having a danger room session tonight. Be there, 6 sharp." He proceeded to walk around, informing all the students. 

"Ugh, that'll teach us to talk around him," Warren said. 

Jean could only roll her eyes in reply and say, "That's Logan for you." 

* 

Lance's foot was pressed all the way down on the accelerator of his Jeep. He was absolutely livid. How could he do that to Kitty? He'd been such a asshole. Where was his self control? Did he even have any? 

"Stupid fucking idiot!" He shouted at himself, tearing down the road. With his words the ground began to tremble violently. He didn't appear to notice. 

Amanda and Kurt were walking down main street when they heard loud honking and some startled shouts behind them. Amanda turned around to look first and gasped. "OH! Isn't that Lance? He's driving like a madman!" 

Kurt twisted his neck to get a glimpse. It was Lance, barreling down the road at speeds that would put some race cars to shame. People weren't shouting because of that though. The ground around them was beginning to shake. A few people cried out "Earthquake!" 

"Oh man, vhat is he doing?!" Kurt hissed. 

Lance's fury at himself knew no bounds. "She was the only good thing you had you pompous moron! She took you back after you tried to kill her and her friends at the school, and _this_ is how you repay her?" The ground lurched suddenly and his foot finally came off the accelerator. The wheel jerked out of his hands. He grabbed onto it in a frenzy of emotion, but the ground bucked again. He saw the car jump over the curb like it was in slow motion. The only thing he could think to do was gesture at the ground, knocking any bystanders out of the way of the car. The whole street was splitting, but Lance could only see the wall looming up in front of him, like an executioner. . . 

"Kurt! Kurt he's going to crash!" Amanda shrieked. 

Kurt knew that there was hardly any time left. He teleported as fast as he could, praying to high heaven that he'd be able to do something. 

* 

Jean knocked lightly on Kitty's door. It had been a few hours since the younger mutant had come home. Jean had sat and thought about what might have happened, and thought that she might have finally come up with a logical way to approach Kitty, without appearing to take any sides. 

"Who is it?" came the muffled voice. _Kitty's_ muffled voice. 

"I'm me," Jean said. "I wanted to talk." 

"Door's open," Kitty grunted. 

Jean stepped in, holding the little black box Lance had dropped off. She sat on the edge of the bed. "Kitty? I want to ask a favor." 

"I thought you wanted to talk." 

"I do, but I'd like to know what happened first, if that isn't too personal." 

"I, like, told you what happened," Kitty snapped. 

"I meant _really_ know what happened," Jean said with a significant emphasis on the word 'really'. 

"You- you want to read my mind?" Kitty said, bringing her head up from the pillow. 

"If I have your permission," Jean said honestly. 

Kitty hesitated, but then nodded. Jean held her hands out around her head and began to 'see' what Kitty had seen, through Kitty's eyes. After a few moments, she stopped. 

"You never told him to stop," Jean said gently. 

Kitty looked at her in such a way that Jean thought for a second she had sprouted a new head. "WHAT?" She said, totally lost by Jean's comment. 

"Kitty, you know how guys are. You only said Lance's name. In the state of mind he was in, how was he supposed to know it was some sort of warning?" 

Kitty's jaw dropped. "Are you saying that that was MY fault?" 

"No, not at all," Jean shook her head, her red hair cascading over her shoulders. "I'm just saying you may have jumped the gun there, thinking he was out to rape you or something." 

Kitty froze. Rape. That was the word that had been choking the tears out of her for hours now. Kitty thought Lance was going to rape her, it was true. Now that she thought about it though, the way she had responded to his kissing, she wasn't surprised that he might have gotten the wrong idea. 

"He stopped by to make sure you got home all right," Jean said. 

Kitty's heart skipped a beat. "He- he did?" 

"And he dropped this off. He said he forgot to give to you." She held out the box. 

Kitty opened it with trembling hands. She opened the box slowly. Inside was a silver bracelet, with cats carved into it. Most were playing, but in the center, set away from the others, were two cats curled up with one another. Kitty nearly choked. It was beautiful. 

There was a little note taped to the inside of the top of the box. Kitty gently tugged it down and unfolded it. In Lance's untidy scrawl it read: 

_Kitty-_

_Don't be mad with me okay? I've skipped a few meals so I could save up enough money for this. I saw it in the store one day and it reminded me of you. I hope you like it._

_-Lance_

No wonder he had looked so gaunt! Skipping meals here and there, to save up for a present for her. She could kick him! Kitty dropped the note, her hands were shaking so much. She'd made a horrible mistake. Lance hadn't meant to hurt her. 

"Oh, Jean," she gasped. "What did I do?" 

Jean looked at her. "You can call him. He should have been home for a while now. . ." 

The door slammed open. Rogue was holding the portable phone and her face was whiter than either of the rooms current occupants had ever seen it. She was shaking. 

"Rogue?! Are you all right?!" Jean and Kitty echoed. 

"It's Amanda," Rogue said. Then she stopped, and swallowed hard. 

"What? What happened? Is Kurt hurt?" Kitty asked frantically. Kurt was her best guy friend. If anything ever happened to him. . . 

"Kurt's okay, but that's not really good news," Rogue said. 

Jean scanned Rogue's mind. It was so hard to get a reading from her normally and with her emotions surging as they were now, it was near impossibly. "What's wrong?" she said in exasperation. "Why wouldn't that be good news?" 

"Kurt- Kurt was tryin' t' save someone. . . Aw gawd Kitty! Lance was drivin' like a lunatic, his powers were outta control - or something- an'- an' he crashed.," Rogue said, her eyes brimming with tears at the look of horror on Kitty's face. 

"Where is he?" Kitty breathed. "How bad is he hurt?" 

"They jus' got him to the hospital. It- it took them a while t'- t' get him outta th' wreck," Rogue said, watching Kitty's face turn sheet white. "He's- he's not doin' good at all. His own earthquake flung him into a wall." 

Jean wrapped her arms around Kitty, who had begun breathing heavily. 

Rogue looked away from them and finally spit out, "They're not sure he's gonna make it." 

To Be Continued. . . 


	2. Episode 2: Fragile Hearts, Part Two

***Disclaimer*** I don't own 'em. But I love 'em dearly- the X-Men are the property of Marvel. I ain't making a red cent offa this.I wish I was- but I ain't. So, yeah, my dear friends at Marvel- I'll come work for you ANY TIME YOU WANT!! Drop me a line! ;P 

_Fragile Hearts: Part Two_

Previously, on X-Men: 

-_"Jus' listen t' me for a second, cherie. I wanna help you."_

_Rogue tried to pull away but his grip was too firm. "Get offa me!" She tugged at his hand._

_"I don' give up dat easily cherie," Gambit murmured. He grabbed her other hand and pulled her towards him. "Especially when I'm determined about somet'ing." His eyes glittered._

_Rogue shoved him hard. "Stay away from me!"_

* 

_-"What the hell are you doing?" she demanded._

_"Kitty- I'm sorry," he said, flipping over and seeing her angry face. "I- I couldn't help myself. . . I-"_

_"This date is *over* Lance," she said furiously. _

_He shifted back into his seat. "I'll drive you-"_

_"I'm walking!" Kitty nearly shouted. She phased right through the car door and began storming down the street._

* 

- _Jean looked at him and said, "I think Rogue has been so wired today because of Remy."_

_Logan snorted. "I coulda toldja that Red."_

* 

- _She tensed at his touch, and turned away from his wandering eyes. Her voice cracked as she said, "What do you want from me?"_

_"Don' want anything Rogue. Jus' mebbe you," He soughed. _

_She felt her pulse quicken. Her body was betraying her and it made her furious! She looked back at him and their eyes locked._

_"Please Rogue," he said, his eyes boring into hers. "Jus' give me a chance."_

_"No way swamp rat," she hissed._

* 

_- "You never told him to stop," Jean said gently._

_Kitty looked at her in such a way that Jean thought for a second she had sprouted a new head. "WHAT?" She said, totally lost by Jean's comment._

_"Kitty, you know how guys are. You only said Lance's name. In the state of mind he was in, how was he supposed to know it was some sort of warning?"_

_Kitty's jaw dropped. "Are you saying that that was MY fault?"_

_"No, not at all," Jean shook her head, her red hair cascading over her shoulders. "I'm just saying you may have jumped the gun there, thinking he was out to rape you or something."_

* 

- _Remy once again turned his eyes to Rogue, who looked very shaken up. He sighed. "If you want cherie, I'll go."_

_His empathic abilities picked up the slightest traces of lust under her confusion and fear. "Ah- Ah" she stammered._

_Remy put his glove to her lips again to silence her, and was actually a bit shocked to feel her lips moving upon it. He placed his lips on his side and gently kissed back in response. Her craving for him suddenly increased and she found herself tangling her hands in his hair. He had his one free hand on the small of her back, gently caressing her. Rogue's panic suddenly overwhelmed her, and she broke away abruptly. She pushed him off gently, and then quickly and quietly retreated down the hall._

_Remy's eyes followed her, memorizing every feminine curve and move her body made. He put his glove up to his lips and kissed where her lips had been placed. He was winning her over, but her fear of her powers was going to be a big hurtle to jump._

* 

-_"Kurt- Kurt was tryin' t' save someone. . . Aw gawd Kitty! Lance was drivin' like a lunatic, his powers were outta control - or something- an'- an' he crashed," Rogue said, her eyes brimming with tears at the look of horror on Kitty's face. _

_"Where is he?" Kitty breathed. "How bad is he hurt?"_

_"They jus' got him to the hospital. It- it took them a while t'- t' get him outta th' wreck," Rogue said, watching Kitty's face turn sheet white. "He's- he's not doin' good at all. His own earthquake flung him into a wall."_

_Jean wrapped her arms around Kitty, who had begun breathing heavily._

_Rogue looked away from them and finally spit out, "They're not sure he's gonna make it."_

*** 

The slow beeping of the machines attached to Lance Alvers and the sobs of Kitty Pryde were the only sounds that broke the silence of the hospital waiting room. There was a group of them sitting outside of Lance's door. Kurt Wagner was in a corner, with his head in his hands. He hadn't been fast enough to get into the Jeep and get Lance out. His girlfriend, Amanda, was trying her best to console him. It was a hard thing for a would-be hero- to make a mistake, or be just a second too slow, and possibly cost someone their life. Especially when someone who mattered so much to one of his best friends and teammates. 

Rogue was trying her very best to comfort her roommate, but to no avail. Kitty had been unreachable since she had heard the news. She was wearing the bracelet that Lance had bought for her, but hadn't been able to give her in person. Rogue knew why Kitty was aching so badly. Jean had filled her in, and Kitty had gone so berserk after hearing the news that Rogue had been forced to use her own abilities to calm her. A small part of her was suffering just as badly as Kitty was now. Just hours before the car crash, Kitty and Lance had had an awful fight over an incident in Lance's Jeep, which was being turned into scrap metal somewhere at the moment. Kitty had left him with a few heated words, and she was now convinced that he had been so furious with her, or himself, that his powers had gone out of control and he crashed his car. 

Everyone fell silent and looked up as professor Xavier wheeled out of Lance's room. The nurse nodded at the students, signaling that visitors were welcome. Xavier signaled to Kitty and Rogue. Rogue helped the shaky Kitty to her feet. 

"They've stabilized his condition. Luckily, there was no internal bleeding, and he was wearing his seat belt. That saved his life. At this point the doctors can't be certain, but they believe he'll recover fully. There is no lasting damage," he frowned, "however he does appear to be in a deep coma." 

"Can I see him?" Kitty whispered. 

Xavier nodded. Kitty entered the room and bit her lip at the sight of all the bandages and tubes on and in Lance's body. Rogue patted her on the back and Xavier wheeled in behind them. 

"Can you do anything for him professor? For his coma, I mean?" Kitty begged. 

The professor sighed. He knew that she would ask, but in all reality he wasn't sure he could do anything. "I can try." 

Kitty slipped over to the left side of Lance's bed and held his hand. Rogue hung back on the right side, aware of the fact that most of Lance's right side was wrapped up, unlike his left. Rogue was wearing three-quarter sleeves and her gloves today, and she really didn't feel like taking any chances when it came to absorbing a hospitalized mutant. 

Xavier held his hands nearby Lance's head and mentally tried to find the boy. His mind was a huge mass of confusion. Images of the crash kept flashing through his mind, and over and over again, as if superimposed on top of it all, was Kitty's visage, walking away from him. _Lance_, the professor mentally called. _Can you hear me?_

_Kitty please-!_ His mind shouted. Xavier winced. 

_Lance, you know me. I'm professor Charles Xavier. I've come to help you._

Lance seemed oblivious to his presence. He reached out towards 'Kitty' calling to her. 

_Lance, please, try to focus on me._ Xavier looked at Kitty. "I'm not getting through to him. He doesn't hear me. . ." 

"Lance," Kitty said mournfully. "Lance. . ." 

Lance's right hand twitched. Rogue, who was looking at Kitty stroking Lance's left hand, didn't notice. 

_KITTY!_ Lance screamed mentally. Xavier's head snapped back like he had been struck, and Lance's right hand shot out to grab 'Kitty's' wrist. 

It wasn't the real Kitty he latched onto. 

Rogue gasped and shouted as Lance's hand wrapped around her wrist with the force of a clamp. She tried to wrench herself away but he was holding on as if it was a matter of life and death. His mind bombarded hers. Rogue jerked and twitched in his grip, receiving pain from wounds that weren't hers. 

"Oh god!" Xavier said. He mentally reached out and tried to clamp off Lance's mind from Rogue. He wasn't sure what would happened if skin contact was kept with Rogue for more than a few seconds. 

"Kitty!" 

Kitty's looked up astonished. That was Lance's voice! Lance's mouth, however, wasn't moving. It was coming from Rogue, much like the way Jean had spoken through Rogue once before. 

"L- Lance?" 

Rogue's eyes were rolled in the back of her head, and her body was bent over, but her head was looking up. "Kitty. . . god I'm so sorry! I never meant to- never meant-," a spasm sent Rogue's body twitching again, as a similar spasm went through Lance's body on the table. "You're the only good thing that's _ever _happened to me, and I _ruined _it!" 

"No, no, Lance! It's okay. I- Jean helped me think about it- it wasn't only your fault!" Kitty stammered. 

"I'm such a asshole," he shouted, as Rogue's body arched in pain that his body did not experience. 

"Kitty, you have to help me!" Xavier suddenly shouted. "Rogue can't take this kind of stress!" 

Kitty saw the way Rogue was straining, her face contorted, her body rigid, and panicked. "Lance! You have to let go!" 

"No!" He gasped. "No, I can't. I can't give you up!" 

Rogue's wrist was a bright red from the pressure he was putting on it, and Kitty could see blood trickling down from Rogue's ears. Kitty phased through the bed, grabbed her roommate, and phased her through Lance's hold. 

Lance's body gave a shudder that sent all the monitors off in a dangerous beeping pattern for a few seconds, then returned to normal. Rogue collapsed like a rag doll. Xavier's mental block between the two minds was shattered by their separation and he winced. 

"Professor!" 

Kitty's voice made Xavier turn to look at her and Rogue. Xavier's face paled at what he saw. "Oh no." 

"She's having some sort of seizure!" Kitty said. Rogue was twisting and moaning. He face was covered in a thin layer of sweat, her limbs had a mind of their own, and her eyes were still rolled back inside her head. 

_Kurt!_ Xavier mentally shouted. Kurt rushed into the room. 

"Vhat is it professor?" Kurt began but when he saw Rogue his eyes widened. 

"Rogue. Infirmary. Now! Kitty too!" Xavier ordered. 

Kurt nodded and touched the two of them, teleporting away in an instant. Xavier reached Beast psychically and told him they would be arriving. 

_I'll be right there!_ Beast responded. He went galloping off down to the infirmary. 

Xavier knew that he had to get there quickly too. Storm was downstairs with the car, and he explained the situation to her psychically while telling Amanda that Kurt had gone. When he offered Amanda a ride she shook her head. 

"I'll stay here for a little while longer and then I'll walk home, sir. It's not problem." 

Xavier nodded. "You're a very good soul, Amanda," he said. Her quickly went off to the elevator. Amanda watched him go, then settled back into her seat and sighed. Somehow she was going to explain the abrupt departure of four people to the nurses. 

* 

"Oh my stars and garters," murmured Beast as the sight within the infirmary reached his eyes. Kitty and Kurt were trying to hold down a raging Rogue. Every time she strained against their arms the ground trembled. She was shouting incoherent phrases, and trying to pull herself off of the infirmary bed. Kurt had one arm while Kitty had the other and they both looked mortified. 

Beast filled a needle with a sedative and attempted to administer it to the struggling girl, but as soon as the needle pierced her skin she shrieked. The floor rippled and sent Beast crashing against the infirmary wall. Kitty let go of Rogue for a second to push the plunger, and Rogue practically roared in fury. The whole house shook, then it settled as Rogue's eyes shut. 

"I believe the most appropriate quote for this situation would be- Good grief!" Beast said, rubbing his head. "What happened here?" 

"Lance- he made contact with Rogue at the hospital. He wouldn't let go and Rogue started reacting weirdly- I think the professor was trying to do something at the same time, so I'm not really sure," Kitty explained quickly. 

Beast nodded and put on a pair of surgical gloves. He picked up Rogue's wrist and felt her pulse, while looking at his watch. He nodded, then took out a flash light and gently opened one of Rogue's eyes and shined the light on it. He frowned. 

"Is she going to be okay?" Kurt asked quickly. 

"Frankly, this is a rather odd situation. She appears to be having some sort of concussion, even thought from what you tell me there was no actual head trauma," Beast evaluated. 

"Vhat does dhat mean?" Kurt asked in a trembling voice. 

"I'm not sure yet," Beast admitted. 

* 

"Hey! Is anyone out there?" 

Rogue sat up, unsure of where she was. It was very dark, and her eyes hadn't adjusted yet. She closed them for a few minutes then opened them again. Still, nothing but blackness. She looked down at her hand and her brows furrowed. She could see her body as if she was in a well lighted room, in fact she appeared to be glowing. "That can't be a good sign. . ." 

She stood slowly, trying to figure out exactly what she was standing on. Everything around her was just black. There didn't appear to be any horizon, there didn't appear to be any light, and there didn't appear to be anyone else. 

"Professor? Kitty?" she called out nervously. Her voice echoed in the dark expanse but there was no responding cries. 

"Where th' hell am Ah?" 

* 

Xavier made it back to the mansion a few minutes later. Warren and Remy noticed his worried expression as he wheeled his way to the infirmary. Then they saw Storm come in after him, just as worried. 

"Hey! Stormy!" Remy called out. She stopped. "What's goin' on?" 

Storm hesitated. "Rogue's been hurt." 

Remy stepped back, looking like he'd been sucker punched. "What-?! How? She was at de hospital for Pete's sate! How'd she get hurt there?" 

"Gambit, I want to make sure she's all right. I will explain it to you later." 

"But-!" Remy protested. Warren held him back. Remy grabbed his hand. "You wanna keep dat limb, pup, you let me go." 

"Gambit, you're not going to help her, acting like this," Warren said. 

Remy glared at him. "I need to see her." 

"You'll only get in the way," Warren said, making his grip more firm. 

"Don' tell me what I will an' will not do, pup!" Remy snapped, slapping his hand away. 

Scott, who was coming down the stairs, saw the two arguing and pushed his way in-between them. "Hey! Chill out! What's going on?" 

"Rogue's hurt and de rich boy t'inks I get in de way if I go see her," Remy growled. 

Scott's eyebrows shot up. "Rogue's hurt-?" 

"Yeah, Storm and Xavier just came in. I think Kurt must have teleported her here from the hospital all ready," Warren said, much more calmly. 

Scott grimaced. That was never a good thing. "Gambit," he said breaching the subject daintily, "I think you should stay here." 

"WHAT?!" Remy shouted. "What're you all, crazy? I ain't gonna sit here an' do nothin'! I care for de girl _mes ami_! I ain't lettin' her go t'rough dis alone!" 

It was the first time he had said anything about his feelings for Rogue to any of the other mansion residents, and Scott and Warren were taken aback. Taking advantage of the momentary silence, Remy whipped out his Bo staff, knocked Scott over and pinned Warren to the wall with it. 

"You gonna stop me now pup?" Remy snarled. 

"He might not," another voice snarled, "but I will, bub." Remy felt cold steel prick into the back of his neck. "Drop the stick and step back slowly gumbo." 

Remy did as he was told, but his hands flew to his cards. The point in the back of his neck became sharper. 

"You don't wanna do that bub," Logan breathed. Remy's arms dropped limply. Logan retracted his claws and Remy turned around, looking at him with a defiant stare. "You know, what you did just now could earn you about a years worth of extra training sessions." 

"I'd do it again in a second _monsieur_ Wolverine," Remy retorted. "Extra training or _non_." 

Logan grunted. "Good." 

Warren shook his head. "Good? What the hell?! He just attacked us!" 

"Yeah, but he did it for good reasons," Logan said, putting a hand on Remy's shoulder, restraining him. He added in an undertone so that only the Cajun could hear, "Rogue needs someone who would do that sort of thing for her." 

"I'd die for her," Remy returned. 

Logan looked at him out of the corner of his eyes. "I wouldn't doubt it gumbo." He raised his voice again and said firmly, "But you ain't goin' in there unless Chuck calls you." 

Remy scowled at him, but knew that Wolverine was more than a match for his fighting skills. It would be totally useless to try and fight him. He shrugged off Wolverines hand, picked up his staff and folded it up, and offered Scott a hand. Scott took it and Remy mumbled an apology. 

"It's okay," Scott muttered. He had the wind knocked out of him, but other than that, only his pride had been hurt. He should have seen that attack coming from a mile away. 

Logan grunted and sat down in a chair nearby. Remy sat on the floor next to him and Warren and Scott rested on the bottom step. "We're just gonna hang out here until we find out more, all right?" Wolverine said, glancing around at the group. 

They nodded, Remy last and more slowly, but with Wolverine 'baby-sitting' there was not much he could do. 

* 

Rogue felt like she had been walking for hours, but she wasn't tired, nor was she hungry. She couldn't tell if she had gone anywhere, or if there was any purpose in going anywhere, because the features of the land didn't change. "HEY!!" She shouted at the top of her lungs. "Is there any-fuckin'-body out there?!" 

This was really beginning to get on her nerves. 

"Yo! Where th' hell am Ah?" 

Her words were lost in the darkness. 

"Well this is just great," she grumbled. She sat down and crossed her legs. "Ah ain't going nowhere, Ah ain't findin' no one an' Ah ain't got any frickin' idea what I would do if Ah did." 

Rogue thought she heard a whisper and she jumped to her feet. "Hello? Is there someone out there?" 

No one answered. 

* 

Kurt was bouncing nervously on the balls of his feet as Xavier wheeled into the infirmary. "Dhank god!" he said vehemently. 

Beast quickly explained his analysis to the professor. He nodded. "I understand. She must be in some sort of mental shock. I'll just-" 

Whatever he was going to say was abruptly cut off as Rogue's eyes snapped open. Kitty let out a breath that she hadn't realized she was holding and Kurt pumped his arm in the air. 

"You're okay!" Kitty and Kurt chimed. 

"What in god's name am I doing here?" Rogue said, but it wasn't Rogue's voice. It was very clearly Mystique's. 

"Oh dear," Beast said, nicely summing up what everyone was thinking. 

"Xavier! What is the meaning of this?" Rogue demanded. 

"Ah, Raven," Xavier's voice died. 

"Mother?" Kurt said, his eyes going wide. 

"Kurt?" Rogue said, still as Mystique. She sat up in a very fluid manner. "How in world did I wind up here?" 

"If I might explain in the simplest terms," Beast began. 

"Please do," Rogue/Mystique insisted. 

"You're not you. You're a fragment of your mind within Rogue's mind. . . And you have apparently taken control of said mind." 

Rogue's head tilted to one side. "Excuse me?" 

"Try to shape shift if you don't believe him Raven," Xavier suggested. 

"This is absolutely ludicrous!" She barked. She concentrated for a moment then her eyes widened in shock. "What? What have you done to me you damned psychic?!" 

"Mother, de professor has done nothing. _You've taken over Rogue's body!_ You have to leave and let her come back," Kurt pleaded. 

"And how do you propose I do that? The only thing I know is I woke up," Mystique's voice responded. "I didn't 'mean' to take over her mind, if that's what you're thinking." 

Xavier couldn't scan her mentally, but could hear the truth in her voice. "Rogue's trapped in her own mind then." He stroked his chin. "And I'm not sure I can bring her back." 

* 

"Is there an in-void movie Ah'm missin'?" Rogue shouted. Her bitter humor was lost in the mass expanse of nothing. She'd walked, and walked, then walked some more, with a bit of sprinting and jogging in between, and she'd gotten nowhere. She jumped up and down. Sure, the blackness beneath her acted like the ground, but it didn't look like ground. Nothing looked like anything, except herself. 

"Maybe Ah died. . . An' this is hell-?" She asked the nothing. 

It didn't respond. 

"Well, fine, be that way." Rogue began to walk again. After a few steps she stopped. "Did Ah really commit so many sins that Ah dropped here when Ah died? Or _am_ Ah dead?"  
Still, no response. 

Rogue shivered, not because she was cold, since the temperature seemed to be neutral, but because she was very scared. 

Someone giggled. 

Rogue whirled around. "Kitty? Is that you? Hey! If this is some sorta sick joke an' Ah'm in th' danger room, turn it th' hell off!" She added, with more passion, "Othahwise Ah am so going to pound the crap outta you!" 

Silence again. 

* 

Rogue's body shuddered and Raven gasped, as if in pain. 

"Mother?!" 

"_Mother_? Whoa, Kurt, I think you've had one too many burgers this morning or _something_." Rogue said, then added in a startled cry, "Hey! Where are my glasses? How come I'm not blowing you all away?!" 

"Oh good god," Xavier murmured. 

If the situation wasn't so serious, Kitty would have laughed hysterically at the idea of Scott trapped within Rogue's body. Beast took out a pad of paper and a pen. "Well, that makes two, Mystique and Scott." 

"What- Mystique? Professor?" Rogue looked at Xavier in total confusion. "What's going on?" 

Xavier sighed. "You're not really you. You're the piece of Scott Summers that was left behind in Rogue's mind." He felt a lot of similar explanations coming on. 

"What?" He looked down at 'his' body. "Holy shit!" 

Kurt snickered. "Consider dhis payback for when you saw me as a woman Scott," he said. 

"Why is this happening to her? I thought we cleared all this out of her mind?!" Rogue/Scott said. 

"Apparently not," the professor said. "Now that someone with less psychic barriers is in control though I'm going to try to get to the root of the problem." 

"I'll do whatever I can to help professor." 

"I know Scott. I only pray that it is enough." 

* 

This wasn't the danger room. No one would be this cruel. This was sensory deprivation taken to an extreme that it wasn't meant to go. Rogue was curled in a fetal position, listening to her own breathing, trying to stay calm. It wasn't easy in this atmosphere. 

"Please, please, please, please, jus' let me go home," Rogue whispered. 

* 

The nurses were frantically looking over the machinery in Lance's room. Things kept beeping and they were getting odd readings. When one of the nurses had popped in just after the girl with the dark hair had told them the others had to leave suddenly, there was no brain wave activity and the boy had hardly been breathing. 

"Someone should call Dr. Johnson. . ." The senior nurse breathed. 

Amanda stuck her head in the door, listening to the nurses worried chatter. 

"What kind of reading is that?" 

"I don't know- how do you expect me to know? You've been here longer." 

"I've never seen that sort of thing happen. You say his brain waves were- _gone_?" There was a light tapping of a fingernail to metal. 

"Gone! Kaput! Then all of a sudden they were back!" 

Amanda put two and two together and figured out why the Professor and the others had departed so quickly. She bit her lip. What sort of effect would having his mind absorbed while in a coma have on Lance? 

"OH!" 

There was a clatter and a few tinkles of shattering glass. One of the machines started beeping loudly and Amanda heard a curse. 

"What the hell is this stuff?" 

"Oh! OH!" The nurse gasped again as Lance began speaking. 

"Where am I-? The hospit- ow!" He yelped. "Jesus, look at me, I'm more banged up than the boarding house." 

Amanda edged into the room. Lance was picking at an IV tube. The three nurses we huddled in a corner, shocked. Finally the senior nurse leapt out and pulled his hand away from the IV. 

"Don't _do_ that dear!" 

"I need to see Kitty Pryde-" Lance said firmly. "Is she here?" 

"I don't know hon, there's a girl with dark hair outside, but I don't think her name is 'Kitty'. . ." The nurse explained to him. 

"If she's _not_ here then I have no reason to be!" Lance said. He strained against a sling that held his fractured left arm elevated. He winced in pain. The other two nurses jump up to help the first and tried to hold him down. 

"Get off! Lance snapped, a ripple shooting through the floor. The nurses lost their footing and landed on the floor roughly. "What in the world-?" 

Thinking it was best to step in and _do_ something before things got complicated, Amanda burst in through the door, shouting "You're all right!" 

This certainly distracted the nurses, who immediately tried to usher Amanda out and deal with their patient but Lance saw her and said, "No! Wait!" The two younger nurses paused, wondering what they should do. The senior nurse motioned for them to move back. 

Lance raised an eyebrow at Amanda. He recognized her, but he couldn't remember from where. . . Amanda picked up on the look and said quickly, "Amanda- Kurt's girlfriend." 

Lance nodded. "Kurt- he tried to tele-" 

"Hush," Amanda said, indicating the nurses with a flick of her eye. 

"Where's Kitty?!" Lance demanded, grabbing Amanda's hand. "I have to apologize to her- to talk to her-" The ground began to shake. 

"Easy there," Amanda said, indicating the nurses again. "Kitty was here- but she had to leave suddenly. 

Lance's face fell. "No. . . Ah, god!" He hung his head. Then he looked up again. "I have to talk to her." He began to struggled with the sling his left arm was in again. 

"Hey! Stop that!" Amanda demanded, the nurses echoing her sentiments in different manners. "Listen- you keep cool, I'll go get Kitty and convince her to come back here as soon as the whole thing blows over." 

Lance frowned. "I'd have to talk to her before this blows over-" 

"No! No not that," Amanda said. "Rogue- something happened with her." 

"Rogue?" Lance looked curious. "Really? I thought- it was weird, I was lost for a while, then I thought I felt something tugging at my mind- could it have been her?" 

"Probably. . ." 

"How long have I been out?" 

"Almost a day. You were in a coma though. We weren't sure when you were going to wake up. . ." 

They looked at each other. "Rogue. . ." Lance murmured. "Damn! Her powers must have brought me back, and caused her to be hurt. I cant do ANYTHING right." He closed his eyes, groaning. "So I freak out Kitty and possibly killed her roommate. She's going to be soooo pissed at me." 

"You forgot that you nearly got yourself killed." 

"Huh, is she mad about that too? I thought it would be the only thing I've done lately that she would be _happy_ about." 

Amanda sighed and shook her head. "Listen, just cooperate with the nurses for a while. I swear I'll find Kitty and get her up here if I have to drag her by her ponytail." 

"Don't _hurt_ her!" Lance said vehemently. 

Amanda rolled her eyes. "Just- wait here," she said. 

Lance nodded slowly. He wasn't so sure that this was going to work, but it was worth a shot. As Amanda scurried out of the room the nurses swooped down on him like vultures, tweaking IVs and checking charts. His whole body ached, especially his rib cage. From what he could tell he had been in surgery at least once, because one of the nurses was taking a look at his stitches to make sure he hadn't broken any while he was twisting around. _Bah_ he thought, _it's not driving drunk I have to worry about- it's driving **mad**! _He had only been awake for five minutes and all ready he'd been prodded so much and asked so many questions that he wished he was back in his comfortable, quiet coma. _On second thought- I would worry about getting driven mad right about now. . ._

"All right dear, we're going to get the doctor and then get you some lunch," the senior nurse said. 

"Ugh," Lance grunted. It was going to be the best meal he'd had in days, but even if he was dying of hunger hospital and other processed foods would never sit right in his stomach. 

_Never, ever again will I listen to the lower brain._

* 

Several personalities, both cooperative and uncooperative, later Xavier was no closer to figuring out what was wrong with Rogue than he had been at the start. "Beast? How goes the list?" 

"Well, we've had Mystique twice, Scott four times, Jean twice, Kitty, Quicksilver, Blob and Toad once, several people we were unable to identify but must be kids from the rock concert where Rogue's powers went berserk, and that horrifying Juggernaut experience," Beast said, adjusting his glasses. 

Kurt flinched. "Tell me about it! I thought she vas going to strangle me to death." He rubbed his neck tenderly. 

"_Ja_!" Rogue chimed in. "Glad I took over vhen I did!" 

"And Kurt," Beast amended. 

"But no Rogue," Kitty murmured. 

"We have to keep trying," Xavier said. There was a sharp rapping at the door. Xavier turned to it, scanning who was outside. "Come in Logan." 

Wolverine opened the door and growled as soon as he came in. "Summers, Worthington, LeBeau and I are out here thinkin' Rogue's hurt, maybe dying, and she's sitting upright, chipper as can be, _and no one told us?_" 

"Vell, not quite," Kurt and Rogue echoed with the same accent. 

Logan blinked. He opened his mouth to say something more, but Remy finally pushed his way in. 

"_Dat_," he said, referring to the way Rogue was talking like Kurt, "was not somethin' I wanted t' hear." 

"Back outside gumbo," Logan rumbled. 

* 

_"Dat was not somethin' I wanted t' hear."_

Rogue still knew that accent anywhere. She sat up as she heard his voice. "Remy? Remy are ya there? What's going on? Please tell me _someone's_ out there._"_

* 

Xavier held up his hand. "No. Gambit, stay." He'd felt a twinge of reaction in the back of Rogue's mind. "Talk to her." 

Remy looked at him with some surprise. "Me? Haven't you been talkin' to her dis whole time? Why would I make any difference?" 

"_Humor_ me," Xavier said. "Rogue's life may depend upon it." 

Remy nodded slowly. "Rogue? _Cherie_?" 

* 

_"Rogue? Cherie?"_

"Thank god," Rogue whispered. She couldn't tell where his voice was coming from, so she shouted, "Where are you?" 

* 

"Rogue, I dunno if you can hear me girl," Remy said, taking up one of her hands. "But I'm here. I'm here to help you." 

* 

"What do you mean, 'dunno if ya can hear me'? Remy, what's going on?!" she said frantically. 

* 

"It's gonna be all right _cherie_. Jus' listen to de sound of my voice. Focus on it." Remy said slowly. "I would sing you a song, but I can't carry a tune." 

* 

"Remy! Please, get me out of here!" Rogue moaned. "Ah can't take this anymore." 

"There you are." 

Rogue whirled around to see professor Xavier, standing. 

"P- professor?" 

Xavier smiled at her in a comforting way. "It's all right Rogue. You're trapped in your subconscious at the moment. I've been trying to find you, but didn't think to look here." 

"Trapped-?" Rogue couldn't grasp the concept. 

"When Lance touched you he held on too long. I tried to damper the effects, but it left your mind shocked enough that you retreated to your subconscious, while the others you absorbed switched as your conscious self." 

Rogue immediately asked, "Was anyone hurt?" 

"No. No one was hurt," Xavier assured her. "Now, take my hand. I'll bring you back." 

Rogue nodded nervously. She grabbed the professor's hand tightly. She felt as if she had suddenly shot out of a cannon, and hit a brick wall. 

* 

Rogue's eyes snapped open. She put a hand to her head, which was aching more than it ever had before. The lights and noises and textures of the world around her gave her a sort of sensory overload after the black void. It took her a moment to get her mouth to work, but when it did she muttered, "Can Ah have an aspirin? An' a glass of watah?" 

Beast, smiling from ear to pointed ear, nodded and strode over to the sink. Kitty hugged her roommate and Kurt smiled at her and patted her on the back. 

"I'm glad you back. It vas veird, hearing my voice coming out from your mouth." 

They moved away as Beast handed Rogue the aspirin and the glass. Rogue immediately downed it. She saw Logan in the corner and gave him a weak grin. "Did Ah have ya worried?" 

"I wasn't nearly as worried as some," Logan said cryptically. He looked at Kurt and Kitty and they nodded and walked over towards him. Logan ushered them out. "We'll stop by later kid." 

Rogue nodded, a bit puzzled as to why they so hastily left. Perhaps they were going back to the hospital to see Lance? 

Then Beast coughed and said to Xavier, "Sir? I rather think we should check up on that new simulation we were trying out in the danger room. There are a few ideas I'd like to play around with." 

Rogue was more surprised by this, and became suspicious when Xavier said," Ah, yes, of course Hank. I'll be right there." 

"Wh-" Rogue began. 

"I'll stop by in a little while as well Rogue. You just rest," Xavier cut her off. Before she could think of a response they were all gone. 

A pair of strong arms wrapped around her. Her heart raced as she heard Remy's voice say "_Ma belle cherie, _Rogue,_ mon amour. . ._" 

"You are here," she murmured. "Ah- Ah heard you." She realized that he was trembling slightly, and it startled her. She squirmed in his grasp in order to face him. He was smiling, but his eyes were teary. Remy slipped onto the bed and pulled her closer to him. 

"Rogue," he whispered hoarsely. "Ah, _ma cherie_, you scared me so." 

He had been scared? Worried about, and scared for, her? 

He reached out to touch her face, oblivious to the fact that he only had three fingers covered. Rogue caught his hand before it reached her skin, but now she was convinced that he _had_ been terrified. No one just 'forgot' her powers. When he pulled her closer she did not resist, as she might have otherwise. She closed her eyes. In that blackness, in that silent nothing, he had been able to reach her. Why? Was it because of him? Did he have a power that allowed him to help her? Even if he was telepathic, the professor had trouble getting through to her. How could he have done it? 

Unless. . . 

Rogue suddenly felt her cheeks turn red. It was her subconscious that Xavier had found her in. Perhaps Remy was a part of her sub consciousness. _An' why would that be?_ a wicked voice in her mind said. _Maybe because ya have a thang f'r him, but ya don't wanna admit it?_

Rogue found herself soothing Remy with her sweet southern tones. "It's all right sugah. Ah'm okay, thanks t' ya." She pulled away from him so that he could look at his face, and she ran her hands through his hair. "Look? Ya see? Ah'm okay swamp rat." 

With a lightning fast movement Remy placed the swiftest and softest kiss on her lips. Rouge felt a slight buzz of emotion and memory, including a huge amount of relief, love, and desire. There was a question there too, boring into Rogue's mind. Remy looked a little dizzy, but not much worse for wear. His eyes shone. 

Rogue smiled at him sadly. "You know that we'll nevah be able-" 

"Don' care," Remy said bluntly. 

"Nevah means _nevah_," she stressed. 

"I jus' want you Rogue. Not your _body_. You." 

"Then, yes," she whispered breathlessly. "Ah'll go out with ya, ya crazy Cajun." 

He grinned like a young child. She placed her gloved hand over his mouth, like he had done earlier and kissed the back of it. Even through the material she could feel his lips, kissing her back in the only way he could. His hands slid onto her hips, and then wrapped around to greedily grasp at her rear but Rogue shoved him away before he could. 

"Don't even think about it swamp rat," she scolded. 

"What?" Remy said, feigning innocence. 

Rogue was about to say something when she caught a glimpse out the window into the infirmary. There was the entire group who had 'left' watching them. Rogue's eyes blazed with fury. 

"AH CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!" she shouted. It was so powerful the glass rattled. "HOW LONG HAVE Y'ALL BEEN STANDIN' THERE? DON'T Y'ALL HAVE SOMETHIN' BETTAH T' BE DOING?" Her face was bright red. The adults were visibly shaking with mirth and Kitty and Kurt were giving one another high-fives. "Go- go harass Scott an' Jean!" Rogue snapped. 

"Aw, give dem a break Rogue. Dey jus' worried about you," Remy said. 

"You stay outta this," Rogue said to him sharply. "Ah woulda thought th' professor would have more tact than this at least!" 

"Let 'em watch," Remy whispered in her ear. "Dey jus' jealous 'cause I got de mos' beautiful woman in de house." 

The color that had faded from Rogue's face returned. "Kitty's not a guy, an' she ain't a lesbian either." 

"But if she was either, she'd be jealous." 

"LeBeau, you are impossible." 

"Ah, but you love it, don' you _cherie_?" 

"Don't hold your breath," she said, "an' get yah hand back on mah waist. Ah nevah said you could touch anyplace else." 

Remy's hand, which had been wandering up towards her chest, dropped down in defeat. "Ah," Remy said with a smirk, "but you never said I _couldn't_ touch anyplace else, _non_?" 

"Well, now Ah am," she mumbled. 

"Noted," Remy said. "Dat doesn't mean I'll listen." 

"If ya wanna have a relationship ya will," Rogue informed him. 

He smirked again. "We'll see, _cherie_." He reached out and waved at the onlookers, before pulling a curtain around Rogue's bed. He pulled one of her hands up to his lips and kissed it. Rogue, despite herself, nuzzled up against him, slipping her head underneath his chin. Remy wrapped his arms around her, and it was in his embrace that Rogue fell asleep. 

* 

Jean had driven Kitty back to the hospital, on the condition that she inform the redhead exactly what was up with Rogue and her new beau, or LeBeau, as the case was. Kitty eagerly shared all the details, right up until the point when the curtain was pulled. Jean smirked. 

"So, someone finally touched the untouchable." 

"I'd say so," Kitty nodded in affirmation. "I like, know I should be happy for her and everything, but I just can't right now. In fact I'm sort of angry. It's like Lance's pain caused Rogue's happiness in an indirect, roundabout way." 

"I can understand that Kitty-" Jean said as they pulled up to the hospital. "Oh, look. It's Amanda." 

Amanda, recognizing the car, trotted over with a huge grin plastered on he face. "Oh great! You're here! I was just about to call you." 

"What's up?" Jean asked. 

"Well, about twenty minutes ago Lance's monitors went crazy. The nurses came in and nearly had a heart attack because he sat up and was demanding to see Kitty, and he was not cooperating with them _at all_. I went in to talk some sense into him, but he only clamed down after I promised to try and get you to come," she said, the last part addressed to Kitty. 

"Sounds like he's doing fine," Jean said rolling her eyes. 

Kitty didn't bother to unbuckle her safety belt. She phased through it, and the door of the SUV, and grabbed Amanda's arm. "Well? What are we waiting for?" 

Amanda laughed and led the way to Lance's room. 

* 

His face upon seeing Kitty was priceless. Tears trickled down his cheeks and he looked terrified and overjoyed at the same time. All he could say was, "Kitty. . ." 

She stood in the doorway, just looking at him for a moment, before her self control gave way and she rushed to his bedside. His heart did a flip flop. "Kitty, oh Kitty I'm so, so sorry-" 

"Hush, Lance. You all ready told me," she said softly. "You're not an asshole." Kitty stroked his cheek. 

He spied the bracelet on her wrist. "I- I don't understand." 

"You don't need to," Kitty purred at him. 

Lance smiled as best he could. "If my right arm wasn't strapped to a million IVs and my left wasn't broken, I would be giving you the biggest hug right now. . ." 

Kitty leaned over and brushed her lips against his gently, trying not to hurt him. He squirmed. Between the IVs and the nodes and the bandages, he felt like he was strapped to the bed. Kitty suddenly pulled back and gave him a funny look. 

"What?" he said, looking worried anew. 

"Didn't you know how dangerous it was, causing an earthquake while you were driving?" 

"Of course I did," Lance said, looking a bit offended, "but," he added sheepishly, "I was so furious with myself that I didn't really care. It started because I was angry and I didn't think to stop it." 

Kitty suddenly looked at him with a wry smile. "What set you off in the car?" 

"I- uh- well, uh- you see- uh," Lance stammered, turning scarlet. "Well, you of course, but uh, it was, well, the skirt." 

She raised an eyebrow. "The skirt?" 

"Yeah," his blush became deeper, "you're always wearing jeans or Capri pants. That was the first time I've seen you in a skirt. . . And I'm what they would call, a 'legs man'. . ." He added with a great deal of effort put into looking straight faced versus foolish. "I'm really, really sorry, I swear that it won't happen again. . ." 

Kitty couldn't help but giggle at him. "I'll have to skip the skirts from now on. . ." 

Lance looked away, still embarrassed. 

". . . And save them for special occasions," she finished. 

Lance made a funny squeaking noise. 

Kitty burst out into peals of laughter that echoed down the hall for several minutes. A few nurses looked in to see the two conversing quietly, their patient a bit red, and the girl with him looking rather content. 

"Ah, young love," one of the older nurses chuckled. 

The other nurses smiled knowingly. 

* 

Rogue shifted in Remy's arms and he froze. He didn't want to wake her. It had been a while now that she had been asleep. He had held her, stroking her hair on occasion. Her eyes fluttered open. Remy smiled down at her. 

"Have a good nap _cherie_?" 

"Mmm hmm," Rogue nodded. Her dreams had been blissfully peaceful for once. "You been here th' whole time swamp rat?" 

"Couldn't do much about it, _cherie_." He said, indicating his situation. She was laying back on him. If he had moved he certainly would have disturbed her. 

"Ya make a pretty comfy pillow," she commented. 

"Anytime you wanna sleep wit' me, you jus' let me know," Remy said mischievously. 

"Now don't start- is that the time?!" Rogue exclaimed, seeing the clock. 

"Yeah," His brows furrowed. "Why? Got a hot date?" 

"No, but Ah've been asleep for ovah two hours!" She rounded on him. "When were ya gonna move yah hide and get comfortable?" 

"Doin' so now," he said with a grin. He twisted around so that he was facing her and folded his arms around her. "Dere. Dat's much better. You know, de front o' your head is much prettier den de back. Not dat dere's anyt'ing wrong wit' de back, but it isn't your face, you know?" 

"LeBeau. . ." Rogue said in an exasperated manner. She was blushing, despite herself. 

Remy frowned. "Well, you know, dere's only one t'ing I'm gonna regret outta all o' dis." 

"An' what might that be?" 

Remy held up one of his hands, grinning, "Gonna have to get me some new gloves wit' all de fingers so I c'n touch your beautiful face." 

Rogue shoved him playfully. "Oh, Ah'm so sure that'll be such a pain f'r ya." 

"Well, I gotta find someone to pickpocket, den I gotta find a shop dat sells gloves in my size. . ." 

"An' steal them?" 

"You know me so well all ready _cherie_." 

"Ya ain't gonna steal anyone's wallet under mah watch Cajun. Got it?" 

"Yeah, but fo' dat to work, you gotta be watchin'." 

"Remy!" Rogue snapped. 

"What?" 

"UGH! What have Ah gotten mahself into?" Rogue moaned, putting her head in her hands. 

Remy leaned close and whispered into her ear, "Somet'ing you ain't gonna regret, _mon amour_." 

* 

"'Choo found de girl?" 

"Yeah, Julien," said a thief wearing a dark jacket. "Came back here soon as I knew fo' sure." The thief grinned, displaying a silver tooth. "An' I found someone else wit' her dat choo might be in'erested in. 

Julien turned to him, Bo staff raised. "Like who?" 

"De girl lives a a sc'ool fo' mutants. Couple o' days ago dey got in some new students. One Peter Rasputin, and a _Remy LeBeau_." 

Julien's eyes narrowed. "Dat backwater slime! I'll tear him to pieces!" 

"Dere's more," the informant thief indicated. 

"Like what-?" Julien snapped. 

"Remy LeBeau has a t'ing fo' de girl choo want. Choo get her choo c'n kill two birds wit' one stone, 'cause LeBeau will come after her." 

"Yeah, but so will de girl's fuckin' 'fam'ly'!" Julien shouted. "No one is to know we got de girl until we _want_ them to know. . ." He paused. "Dat girl's 'fam'ly' is de reason we after de girl in de firs' place. No one trashes de Rippers stronghold and gets away wit' it! De t'ing is, we need somet'ing dat will make de muties less of a threat. 'Specially de girl. She can knock you out wit' a touch." Julien looked over at his informant. 

"I get right on it," the thief said, bowing. 

"Good man." 

After the man left Julien picked up the phone and dialed a number. The phone rang for a few seconds then someone picked up. "_Bon jour_, dis is Julien. I was wonderin' if my father- no? Not even a word? All right, t'ank you." He dropped the phone back onto it's cradle and growled. "You gonna pay fo' dis LeBeau. You and dat skunk-haired girlfriend of yours are gonna pay." 

* 

"Lance is going to be in the hospital for a while," Kitty sighed when Jean picked her up. "They're still worried about him. I mean he has woken up but he still has a concussion and they want to make sure everything's okay. He right lung had collapsed and stuff when they got to the hospital and it was a struggle for them to get it working. He's got a few broken ribs and stuff. . ." Kitty shuddered. "I'm just glad he's okay. . . They _we're_ okay." 

"I take it you discussed the situation with him then?" Jean said, watching the road carefully. 

"Yeah," Kitty blushed. "It was kinda funny, you know? Now that I look back on it that is." 

"Well, I think you did the right thing by getting out of there when you did," Jean advised her, "because who would have known if the situation would turn out this way or not? You could be the one in the hospital now. And Kitty," Jean said, glancing at the younger girl out of the corner of her eye, "you should not blame yourself for what happened." 

"Yeah. . . I know. . ." Kitty mumbled. 

As they pulled up to the mansion, they saw Scott waving them in with a smile. Kitty looked at Jean, who was waving at Scott with one hand and said, "Somebody's jealous of all the time I had with his girlfriend today." 

Jean's face quickly matched her hair, and before she could think up and adequate reply, Kitty had phased through the bottom of the van. Scott jogged up to the side of the car and peered in. 

"Hey, where'd Kitty go?" He asked, puzzled. 

Jean rolled her eyes. "She dropped out." 

"Oh," Scott mused. "I, uh, see. . . Well, anyway," He adjusted his glasses nervously. "Are you still up for dinner tonight?" 

"Oh!" Jean exclaimed. "I'm so sorry Scott, it totally slipped my mind!" She flushed. "Of course I'm still up for dinner. What time is it now?" 

Scott checked his watch with a glance. "Five twenty-two," he offered. 

"All right," she said. "I'm going to put the SUV in the garage and I'll be ready by six-thirty." 

"Sounds fabulous," Scott beamed. He rubbed the back of his neck "Uh is this technically, well, a date then?" 

"Uh, well," Jean stammered as badly as he had. "Well, uh, I guess so." 

They were both blushing. An awkward silence drew out between them. 

"Uh, I'll go park now," Jean said. 

"Yeah, yeah," Scott nodded. He stepped away from the car and Jean slowly drove towards the garage. 

"You're quite the Casanova there Shades," teased a familiar voice. "You could hardly get out more than a syllable while talking to her." 

"Thanks a whole lot for the observation Tabitha," Scott said. He rolled his eyes behind his glasses. 

"I can't wait to hear about the dinner conversation;" she began an expert imitation of his voice, "Uh, eh, uh, um, Jean, hey, uh, so, what did, um, you do, eh, today?" 

Scott frowned at her, but realized that it was probably an accurate assumption. "Whatever," he mumbled. 

"Ha! You _know_ I'm right!" She shouted triumphantly. "Well, Shades, I wish you the best of luck," she snickered. "You're going to need it." 

"Thanks," Scott said flatly. 

"Anytime," Tabitha grinned. She flashed him a thumbs up and began to walk away. 

Scott glanced in the direction Jean had driven off in, hoping to catch a glimpse of her and maybe walk her to her room on her way back. He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts he didn't notice the little firecracker that rolled between his legs until it exploded. 

"TABITHA!" Scott shouted, after he jumped about a foot in the air. Tabitha's laughter could be heard off behind him somewhere. 

He heard a gentle laughter echoing Tabitha's and he turned to see Jean approaching. "Never a dull moment, is there?" she said, her green eyes glittering. 

"In a house full of hormonal teen-age mutants?" Scott shook his head. "A 'dull moment' would be a miracle." 

Jean laughed again. Scott offered her his arm and she accepted, twisting in gently so she could twine her hand in his. He felt suddenly very at ease. He smiled at Jean warmly. 

"Dhere you are!" Kurt exclaimed, as he appeared in front of them. "I dhought I'd never find you in time!" He was in full uniform, which wasn't unusual, but Peter followed behind him, also in uniform. Scott looked at them curiously, but Kurt answered him before he had a chance to ask. "Ve have a training session at six sharp tonight, remember?" 

Jean and Scott groaned. Jean slapped herself on the forehead. It was her fault that they were in that situation in the first place! How could she have forgotten? "I'm afraid dinner might have to wait, Scott," Jean said sadly. 

"Yeah. . ." He agreed slowly. 

"Vell you better hurry up and get in uniform. Logan's on dhe varpath tonight and no one's sure vhy. . . Beast thinks it has something to do vith a scratch on his motorcycle," Kurt added. 

"Ugh!" Scott groaned. "He's going to have the room at the highest level. He loves that bike!" Scott shook his head. "We're going to join Alvers in the hospital." 

Kurt rolled his eyes. "It almost makes me vish I had Rogue's povers." 

"Huh? Why?" Jean asked. 

"Since Rogue has had sooch a rough day, what with visions in the mornink and the trauma from Lance" Peter interjected, "she had been exkused from trainink too-night." 

"Man!" Scott said. "She gets out of more training sessions that way-!" 

"But her powers give he more than enough problems to make up for it," Jean reminded him. 

Scott's indignity deflated. "When you're right you're right. . ." 

"And Gambit is exkused so he can stay weeth her," Peter mentioned casually. 

"All right now that's going-" Scott began but then he paused. "Wait. Rogue, and Gambit?" He knew how Gambit felt for Rogue, but the feeling- mutual? "Did I miss something?" 

"Scott it is vay past time you clean your glasses," Kurt said wisely. "Get vith de program man!" 

"I- I didn't think she would-" Scott stammered. 

"Neither did we," Jean intoned. 

"Wow," he said quietly. "Good for him. . . and her. That's just really unexpected." 

Kurt and Peter shrugged at one another. "Ve'll see you down in dhe danger room dhen." 

He placed a hand on Peter's shoulder and teleported them away. 

"Scott, why are you so weird all of a sudden?" Jean studied his face with a worried look. 

"I dunno, I just, always kinda expected Rogue to be, you know, there. . . alone. I know it's cruel to say that," he said quickly, "but she was my best girl friend besides you. It's gonna be kinda weird without her hanging around. I- I mean you know what with a boyfriend and all she won't be talking to me as much anymore." 

Jean felt a bit of a frown tug at her face and a minuscule feeling of jealously directed towards the southern girl. It faded quickly though. "Rogue will always be a good friend to you Scott. You were better friends then anyone else was with her _before_ she joined us." 

"Yeah, you're right. I really am happy for her," Scott smiled. "And heck, if there's anyone that can bring that goth out of her shell, it would have to be a flirt like Gambit." 

Jean laughed loudly. "You're telling me." 

"Well," Scott sighed, "we'd better get dressed. Otherwise Logan's gonna kill us for being late." 

Jean gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Listen: dinner, tomorrow night. Same time we had planned for tonight. I'll wear something special." 

Scott's cheeks and his glasses blended perfectly. "Uh sure. Fantastic!" He smiled. 

Jean took up one of his hands, and slowly they made their way into the house. 

__*__

_The End. . ._

_*_

__((Kare note: I need to find out more ways to say 'blushed'. See if you can count how many different techniques I used for that between the first two episodes. Stay tuned for episode 3- 'What Dreams may Come' (not based on the movie in any way shape or form). . .)) 


	3. Episode 3: What Dreams May Come

**Standard Disclaimer:** I don't own the X-men. Never have, never will (much to my dismay). They are the property of the mighty Marvel Comics. I make no $$$ off of this. I wish I did. . . :P 

**Author's Note:** The first posting of this had a few typos. It irked me. I changed it. Nothing plotwise changed at all. 

_What Dreams May Come_

"Have I made myself _clear_?" 

Mastermind looked at the sum of money being handed to him. It was a large amount, two thick rolls of twenties. More than he had seen at one point in time. He looked up at the cloaked figure. 

"If I'm caught-" he began. 

"If you're caught then you're useless." 

Mastermind scowled. "You dare-?" 

"I'm _paying _you, aren't I?" 

Mastermind felt that greenery calling his name. He snatched the money. "Fine. I'll take up your offer." 

"Good. Then you know what to do." 

Mastermind stuffed the bills into a pocket of his tattered coat and grinned wickedly, showing his yellowed teeth. His cloaked companion retreated, backwards, watching him until it disappeared into the darkness. Even after it was gone he could still feel eyes on his back. He fingered the money, wondering if his hubris and greed wasn't going to finally catch up to him. . . with a vengeance. 

* 

"Well, well, well, look at you." 

Jean Grey glanced up from her makeup to see Tabitha standing in the bathroom doorway, grinning broadly. "Hello Tabitha," she said merrily. "How are you?" 

Jean scanned the other girl's outfit with interest. Tabitha was wearing a primarily black shirt with bursts of orange and yellow on it, as if she had captured the look of one of her firecrackers exploding on a black background. Her jeans were tattered and her hair was more mussed up than usual. Next to the blue strapless dress Jean was wearing, it was quite the contrasting image. Tabitha noticed her looking and grinned. 

"Like it? I'm heading down to see Bayville's hottest band tonight, and this is what the guitarist wears. He's major cuuuuute- and I've got an extra ticket. . ." She tempted. 

"Not tonight Tabitha. I'm having dinner with Scott." 

Tabitha's eyes lit up. "So _that's_ why you been in her waaaaay over an hour and a half!" She hopped up to sit on the counter next to the sink. "So, is this the first official date or what? Detail, details! Is it _just_ dinner? Dinner and a _movie_? Dinner and a _make out session_? Dinner and making out _in_ the movie?" 

"Tabitha!" Jean exclaimed. 

'No?" Tabitha's grin grew. "Then a trip to the lover's lane of town?" 

"Excuse me?!" 

Tabitha threw her arms into the air, "Well if you don't tell me, how am I supposed to _know_?" 

"It's. Just. Dinner." Jean picked up her brush and began to brush out her hair. "Nothing more." 

Tabitha turned the faucet on so that it was just barely a trickle and ran her fingers beneath it. "Uh huh." She glanced up at the redhead, "You'd like it to be more, wouldn't you?" 

Jean dropped the brush in astonishment, but her telekinesis saved it from crashing to the tiled floor. Jean waved her hand and the thin stream of water skirted away from Tabitha's hand and hit her in the face. Tabitha sputtered. 

"Ack! Ptoo! No fair! I didn't even get a chance to defend myself!" The younger mutant gasped. 

"You didn't give me much room to defend myself verbally," Jean countered. 

"You're a _psychic,_" Tabitha protested. "You don't _need_ to defend yourself _verbally_!" She wiped the water from her face with a towel. "Do you know how tempting it is to throw a firecracker into your makeup and watch it explode all over your perfect outfit-?" she spied Jean's small look of horror and concluded with "-But I'll save my revenge for another time." 

Jean snorted. "You harass me, I retaliate, and you see it fit to take vengeance?" 

Tabitha gave Jean a shocked look. "Of _course_! Why shouldn't I?" 

"You are one of a kind Tabitha." 

"I try." 

* 

Scott adjusted his bow tie nervously for the sixteenth time. He was wearing simple black pants and shoes and a crisp white shirt. He tugged gently on the tie to the right, then to the left, then he tried pulling it up a little more. It just didn't look right. 

"Having troubles bro?" Alex asked his brother. 

"This stupid thing. . ." Scot mumbled. "It- it just doesn't look the way I want it to." 

Alex snickered. 

"What?" 

"Dude, bro, that could be because you tied the thing so that it's like. . . Inside out or something. Here, let me see." Alex removed the bow tie form his brother's neck, redid it, and then tied it back up. "Better?" 

"Yeah, thanks Alex," Scott said, ruffling his brother's light hair. "You're a lifesaver." 

"Hey, if that's the case then can you forgive me for nearly drowning us both in Hawaii?" Alex said, punching his brother in the shoulder. 

"Are you _kidding_ me?" Scoot said mockingly. "You're _never_ living that down little brother. What was it that you said-? Massive storms mean massive breakers?" 

"Uh, something like that," Alex said sheepishly. "But it was true wasn't it? Some of those waves were HUGE!" 

"Yeah, especially when they were looming over our heads." 

They both laughed. Scott ran a hand through his hair nervously. 

"I have never seen you this scared bro- not even when mom and dad threw us out of the plane," Alex mumbled the last part. "She means a lot to you, doesn't she?" 

"Yeah. . .Yeah she really does," Scott admitted, the light slipping across his glasses. 

"Well, first impressions are everything, right?" Alex said. "So, you'd better get a move on, or you're going to be late on the first date. . . And that's never a good sign." 

"Late-? Oh crap!" He exclaimed looking at his watch. "Thanks Alex!" He gasped, hurtling out of his room at breakneck speeds. 

"Good luck bro. You're gonna need it," Alex said, shaking his head and closing the door to Scott's room behind him. 

* 

Kurt strolled down the halls of the institute whistling. Normally he would have been teleporting all over the place, but the furry blue elf was not trying to _go_ anywhere. Rather, he was stalking prey. 

"Remy LeBeau, Ah swear t' high heaven if y'all don't stop tryin' t' _do _that Ah'm droppin' yah like a sack of c'ment." 

Rather loud prey. 

"What-?" Remy said innocently, coming up behind Rogue with a swiftness only a thief could muster. "You don' want Remy t' be holdin' you _cherie_?" 

"Not in those places- no! An' ya shouldn't be that close t' me anyway. We could accidentally touch-" Rogue scolded him. 

"So? Remy's not worried 'bout dat _mon amour_. You can touch me any time you like- anywhere you like." 

Loud and _rambunctious_ prey. 

Kurt slipped behind a door as Rogue and Remy's voices came closer. He peered around the door and watched with a wry grin as Rogue thrust a gloved finger up in front of Remy's nose. 

"Now ya listen t' me LeBeau," she began, "ya need t' learn when t' keep ya hands off!" 

"Ah, but you're tempting me _sorely_ Rogue." 

"Well Ah tell ya one thing- yah gonna be really sore if ya keep this up, if ya know what I mean." 

Kurt couldn't help but snicker. Rogue's head turned in the direction of the noise and he tried to pull out of sight. 

"KURT!" Rogue shouted seeing the blue tail suddenly dart behind the doorway. She grabbed the doorknob and swiped at his tail. Kurt teleported away and Rogue was left with a lung full of sulfur. "Ugh! That ELF!" 

* 

Kurt reappeared outside his own room. "Dat girl is vaaay too sensitive," he mumbled, opening the door. He entered the room, tweaked his stereo and began blasting some music. He looked down at the floor, where his backpack lay open and sighed. "I might as vell get a head start on my homework, _ja_?" He said to himself. He held the bag open with his tail and scooped out his notebook and math textbook. Kurt's tail snaked out over towards his desk and slipped under a pencil and lifted it up. He flopped down on his bed and dropped the pencil on the open notebook in front of him. He glanced at the paper with the numbers in front of him and sighed. It was going to be a long night. 

* 

Wanda Maximoff was washing her face in the upstairs bathroom of the boarding house, trying to figure out how even the sink in this place could be covered in a thin layer of slime or dust or. . .something. It was _way_ past high time they cleaned this place up. Maybe she would suggest it to the boys tomorrow. They'd probably look at her like she was crazy. Then again, then did that a lot. Especially when she was talking about her father. It struck her as very odd. They tried to hide it, which was stranger. She couldn't quite figure it out. 

Her father had been in much closer contact with the inhabitants of the Brotherhood house since the incident with Apocalypse. In fact, he was stopping by in two days. Wanda smiled a little at her wet reflection. She always felt better when her father was around. She picked up a towel and was about to use it to dry her face when she saw the large stain on it. She rolled her eyes. She picked up a second towel and patted her face lightly, then popped her head out into the hallway. 

"Hey guys!" She shouted. She could see Blob wince as her voice carried down the hallway. 

It was funny the way everyone did that whenever she raised her voice. 

"Don't you think we should clean up this dump before my father gets here?" 

"Uh, yeah, sure," Blob nodded. He was holding a large bucket of fried chicken, recently purchased from a fast food place. He watched her nervously for a second and then held out the bucket to her. "Want some?" 

Wanda looked over the crumbs all over his shirt and eyed the chicken dubiously. "Uh, no thanks." She looked up at him. "How's Lance doing, by the way? Anyone run to check on him today?" 

"I think Pietro might have stopped by for two seconds," Blob nodded. 

"_Literally_ two seconds if I know my brother," Wanda mumbled. "Thanks. Maybe if we get this place cleaned up we can take a trip down there. We could get him a card or something." 

"Uh, yeah, sure," he said again. 

"Hey cuddle-muffin!" 

Wanda groaned as she saw Toad come hopping over. "Hello _Toad_," she said, hoping he'd catch the tone that said, loudly, 'I'm-not-interested'. 

"Whaddya say we ditch these losers and go catch a movie, just you and me?" He smiled, showing all of his crooked and green teeth. 

"Uh- no. I'm going to bed early tonight. We're going to clean this place tomorrow." 

"Clean?" Toad said, eyes widening. "As in _clean_ clean?" 

"Yes. We're going to fix this place up," Wanda said firmly, watching with a bit of satisfaction the expression of mild terror on his face. "That means you should take a shower." 

"Sh- sh- shower?" He said, his pitch considerably higher. 

"Yes. With _soap_." 

Toad staggered back. "S- s- s- soap? Yo! Wait a minute! The Toad don't use no soap!" 

"It's obvious. You smell like last week's garbage," Wanda said. 

This stunned Toad into silence for a moment. "B-but sweetie-pie," he said as his voice returned to him, "I thought you _like_d the way I smelled!" 

"What on god'sgreenearth gave you thatidea?" Pietro interjected in his usual rushed manner as he appeared from seemingly nowhere, only a gust of wind indicating that he _had_ been somewhere else. "I mean seriouslyman, you reeksobad that it'sawonder we don't all justdropdead." 

"Pietro, you're talking way too fast," Wanda informed him. "_I _can hardly understand you, and I've lived with you all my life." 

The boys all paused. 

Again with that weirdness. 

Wanda let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm taking a shower and going to bed," she said flatly. "You guys figure out who's going to do what tomorrow." 

The boys looked at one another quietly as Wanda slipped upstairs to get her bathrobe. Toad began creeping towards the bathroom but Pietro grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. 

"What, yo? I was just, you know, gonna make sure she got in the tub all right," Toad whined. 

"I have toomuch _respect _for my sister to letyouspy on her," Pietro grumbled at him. "Go chase a garbage truck," he said tossing Toad at Blob. 

Blob caught Toad with one arm, still clinging to the chicken with the other. Toad flipped Pietro the bird, and suddenly found a drumstick shoved into his mouth. He gagged for a second, then extracted it. 

"Yo! That was totally uncalled for!" 

"Take it easy Toad," Blob said. "If there's one thing you _don't_ want to do it's mess with _that_ family." He added sagely, "They have enough problems all ready." 

* 

Scott was still nervously playing with his bow tie as he raced towards Jean's room. Just as he was about to knock on the door it opened. 

"Hey there Shades!" 

Scott jumped back as Tabitha came right up into his face. He blinked. "Uh- Hi Tabitha. What are you doing here?" 

"Just helping Red get ready," Tabitha winked, running her finger under his chin. 

Scott looked at the outrageous outfit Tabitha was wearing, the rumpled hair and the makeup that was darker than what Rogue usually wore and made a muffled noise. Tabitha laughed heartily. She shook her head and walked down the hallway, throwing up her arm in a wave. "Good luck Shades!" 

_Why does everyone keep saying that?_ Scott wondered. He peered into Jean room and didn't see her. "Jean-?" 

"Scott!" Jean called out from deeper inside the room. "Come on in! I'm just putting on my lipstick. Sorry I'm running a little late. 

"No problem," he assured her. 

Scott entered the room cautiously, as if something was going to jump out and try to take a bite out of him. He looked around nervously, but didn't see Jean until she stepped out in front of him and twirled. 

"So- how do I look?" 

If there was once in his life that Scott wished the world wasn't always tinted ruby red it would be that moment. He could tell that she was wearing a dress in a shade of blue, and he could only imagine how well it set off her hair and eyes. He smiled broadly and said, "Wow. . . Jean. . . You look amazing." 

She smiled at him, that Jean Grey patented smile that no one else could pull off. He grinned, somewhat foolishly, back, and offered her his arm. She took it and they walked down the hallway and made their way outside to Scott's awaiting car. 

"So, where are we going?" Jean asked. 

"That little Japanese restaurant Logan took everyone to a while ago. You seemed to really like it, so I made reservations," Scott said. She saw her smiled broaden and he beamed back at her. 

"Mr. Summers, I do believe you've outdone yourself," she said playfully. 

He grinned and opened the car door for her. She stepped inside elegantly, and he shut the door after she was in. He wound around to the driver's side and opened it up, sat down and started the car. He fastened his safety belt and looked over at Jean. 

"All buckled up?" 

She nodded. 

"Then here we go!" Scott said making the car roar to life. 

They sped down the road with the top down, Jean's hair whipping out behind her like a flag. Scott admired it for only an instant, since he had to drive. There was a silence between them, a little awkward, but more relaxed than it could have been. When they pulled up to the restaurant Scott stopped the car, got out and opened Jean's door for her. 

"My, my, aren't we the gentleman tonight?" She said her eyes twinkling. 

"First impressions are everything- or so I'm told," Scott chimed. 

The two entered the restaurant and were greeted by a short elderly Japanese man. He was a kindly, grand-fatherly fellow. He gave them a short bow and directed them to a table. He pulled out the seat for Jean and she thanked him in Japanese, which delighted him. He smiled broadly and scurried off to get them menus. 

"Since when do you speak Japanese?" Scott asked her, one eyebrow cocked. 

Jean smiled. "Lets just say I picked it up from somewhere, shall we?" 

Scott chuckled. 

The little grand-fatherly man came back with the menus. He rattled off the specials in broken English, and then went over to greet another party that was entering. 

"Mmm. I think I'm going to get the sushi dinner," Jean said. "It comes with miso soup and a salad, that should fill me right up. What about you Scott?" 

"Raw fish? I'd rather do a one on one with Magneto," Scott said. "No, it's chicken teriyaki for me." 

They placed their orders and an awkward silence fell over them both. 

"So. . . " Scott began. 

"So," Jean echoed. 

"Uh, how you've been? Anything interesting happen lately?" 

"Oh, nothing really," she said. "Duncan's been around lately and it's ticking me off. He wants to use me to find out the answers to some college entrance exam he's got to take. Personally I hope he fails. The college couldn't possibly know what kind of major character flaws he has, and I don't want them to suffer through learning about them." 

Scott laughed, then looked grim. "If he bothers you again you could always tell him I'd be happy to use my powers for him." 

"Scott! There's no need for that. Besides, we shouldn't be threatening people with our powers." _No matter how tempting it may be_, she added mentally. 

Scott smiled. _Well, can I **imagine**_ _punching him through a wall for you and share the vision?_

_Be my guest._

They both laughed and the other patrons looked puzzled, obviously not getting the joke. 

* 

Kurt groaned. After a few hours of math homework he was exhausted, no bones about it. Almost as much as he would have been if her had done one of Logan's training sessions. That was saying something. He teleported off of his bed, and reappeared, standing, next to his dresser. He pulled out his pajamas, and swiftly changed. His tail snaked out and flipped off the switch for his main lights. 

Kurt teleported back onto his bed and turned on the small side table lamp to light up his math work again. He began scribbling on the paper again. "Dhis was dhefiantly made to be used as a torture for criminals vay back when. Now dhey just put the teenagers through it because teenagers are 'difficult'." 

His eyelids drooped, and the numbers began to blur in front of him. He stifled a yawn and pushed his books gently off of the side of his bed. "Dhat's enough of a head start," he murmured. "I vill finish it up in dhe morning. . ." 

He curled up inside his blankets and almost instantly fell asleep. 

_The landscape around him was familiar. It was the fields around his adoptive parent's house in Germany. Kurt wandered across them smiling. A long way off he could see a younger version of himself, maybe eight, tops, playing in the freshly fallen snow._

_"Kurt Wagner!" His adoptive mother called out in German. "I don't care how much fur you have- you get right back in here and put your coat on!"_

_The younger Kurt bounded over to her on all fours. "Coming mother!"_

_Kurt watched the scene with a nostalgic smile, until he realized that he was not the only one watching the scene._

_"Wretch! How can she call herself his mother?"_

_Kurt jumped as he noticed a cloaked figure next to him. He knew who it was instantly. His **real**_ _mother. Mystique._

_"Vhat are **you** doing here?" Kurt demanded of her. She didn't respond. He was about to demand an answer from her again when he realized that she was just a figment of his dream. Nothing to be concerned with.  
The younger Kurt leapt out into the snow again laughing gleefully. "Come on mother! Come play with me!"_

_His adoptive mother shook her head. "I cannot play Kurt- I have to make dinner. You be a good little boy and keep yourself entertained."_

_The younger Kurt sighed and scurried out into the snow. His mother went inside the house._

_"Vait- I remember dhis," Kurt said. "I vas playing, and dhen mother came out and joined me, even dhough she was going to cook dinner."_

_He watched the door to the house intently, a light smile playing across his lips. When the door did not open he frowned. "I don't understand. . ."_

_Mystique beside him stirred. She stood up, and suddenly assumed the form of Kurt's adoptive mother. "I will not let that human bitch have all of the moments that should be mine, with **my** son," she said firmly. Then she snuck out of the woods quietly. She scooped up a handful of snow, and tossed it at the younger Kurt. He squeaked and fell over, unprepared for such an attack._

_"Mother!" The younger Kurt said happily. "You came to play! But- what about dinner?"_

_Mystique smiled at him. "I'll have it done by the time you Father comes home, but let's not tell him about this-"_

_The older Kurt mouthed the next words as Mystique spoke them._

_"- let's just keep it our special secret, my little one."_

_He watched, fascinated, shocked, confused, as the two played in the snow. "Dhat's not possible. Mystique- she never visited me. . . Did she?"_

_As their playtime came to a close, Kurt teleported himself over to the mother and son, listening to their words._

_"Mother? Why are you crying?"_

_Kurt's heart leapt into his throat. He remembered this. _

_Mystique held the boy close. "Because, my little one, you don't realize how special you are to me."_

_The little Kurt wiped away a tear from his mother's eyes. "Mother. . . Why is it that I can never play with the other children? Why are they so scared of me?"_

_Mystique buried her head into the boy's hair. "Because they do not understand. They do not understand how beautiful you are. My little boy."_

_The younger Kurt stayed in her arms for a few more minutes, then he began to squirm. Mystique released him, and as the younger boy was looking away, she turned into a bird and flew off._

_*_

Wanda had changed into her red and black tee shirt and pulled on her black pajama pants when she heard the boys whispering in the room next to hers. Ignoring what they were saying she slammed her fist into the wall and shouted "Hey! Keep it down!" 

The boys fell silent. They had been discussing whether it was possible for Wanda's altered set of memories to break down, and what would happen if they did. It was _not _a conversation they wanted her to hear. 

Wanda grumbled a little about 'common courtesy' and then picked up the book that was balanced precariously on her night table. It was _Sabriel_ by Garth Nix, a book she had taken a liking to within the first few pages. Sabriel, the main character, was the daughter of the Abhorsen, a man with necromantic powers who used them to lay the dead to rest. He had gone missing, and Sabriel was trying frantically to find him, along with a cat-creature of 'free' or 'wild' magic called Mogget, and a man who had been imprisoned as a ship's figurehead for two hundred years. He had just introduced himself to Sabriel by his new name, Touchstone (which had been given to him by Mogget), when she felt herself nodding off. The book fell to the side of her bed with a light thud and she began to dream. 

_"FATHER!" _

_She had screamed for him until her throat was sore. _

_She had screamed for days. . . for nights._

_He wasn't coming back._

_What had she done that was so wrong? Why was she being punished this way? Has she broken something important? She didn't think so._

_"PIETRO!"_

_He brother. . . He would come get her. She felt the loss of her twin like a wound in her side. They were so close. They shared a bond that couldn't be broken. Why hadn't he come to get her yet?_

_There were people who would open the little slot in the door and peer in at her like she was a zoo animal to be ogled at. She yelled and kicked and screamed every time they did so._

_"Some sort of freak- a mutant. . ."_

_Her father was a mutant. Her brother was a mutant. So was she. What did that have to do with anything? Why were these men talking in whispers about it? _

_"Well?" said a cold voice._

_"We've gotten permission from the state to conduct a few research experiments."_

_"Fantastic. Bring me some sedative. It's time our dear Ms. Maximoff learned why she was here."_

_*_

_After watching Mystique fly off the older Kurt shook his head. "Dhis is not real Kurt. Get a grip man!"_

_His 'real' mother stuck her head out from the kitchen window. "Kurt! Supper time!"_

_"Coming!!" The younger Kurt said in a singsong manner. He was totally oblivious to the way his mother had managed to get back into the house and cook dinner in a matter of minutes. This fact, however, was not wasted on the older Kurt. "Vhy am I remembering dhis?" He asked out loud. _

_The scene shifted. It was a very, very, unpleasant shift. It skipped his years traveling with his parents when they joined the circus when he was ten. This memory took place on a dark, moon less and stormy night. One that he would never forget, not a long as he lived. It took place about a year before he had journeyed to America ad had enrolled at Xavier's school. It was because of this night that his parents had begun looking for other places for him to stay._

_Kurt watched as another image of him crossed his line of sight. This Kurt Wagner was out of breath, running frantically on all fours, gasping, groaning, unable to keep moving, but unable to stop. There were cuts all over his body, scratches littered across his face. He left a trail of dark red behind him, spatters appearing every time one of his limbs hit the ground. His tail dragged behind him, twitching loosely. He tried teleporting, but only wound up a few feet in front of where he had been, and he was thrown from the portal so violently that he hit the ground with a sickening crunch. He yelped in pain. The slightly older Kurt winced at the memory. His tail, his poor precious tail had all ready been fractured by that point, he had just compounded it._

_"There he is! Monster!"_

_"Get the demon! Slit its throat!"_

_The roars of a mob built up around him. His way was suddenly lit up by a hundred or more torches. Kurt gasped in horror in time with his other self. The dream Kurt managed to scramble to his feet and begin to run again._

_"Shoot it!" someone shouted._

_"No!"_

_Kurt had never looked back to see who had said that. Now that he was reflecting upon the past he did turn, and saw a woman struggling with a man who was holding a shotgun. _

_"He's not some sort of **animal**!" The woman shrieked. "He's a human being!"_

_By this time the dream Kurt was well out of sight, and earshot._

_The man with the shotgun slammed the butt of the gun into the woman's head. She crumbled to the ground. "The demon possessed her!" The man cried. "He had magical powers! Hurry! We must kill it before it enslaves another mind!"_

_The woman had just begun to stir as the mod ran off after the dream Kurt. She groaned and changed into a familiar blue form. "Damn them!" She snarled. "I'll give them a demon!"_

_Kurt watched with wide eyes as Mystique changed into him and ran off into the woods._

_He followed her._

_They caught up with the dream Kurt surprisingly fast. Or maybe it wasn't so surprising. Kurt remembered that moment vividly. He had been so tired, his bones ached so much, that he just couldn't go on any longer. He had resigned to let himself die. The dream Kurt found a tree with a hole between two of its roots, and curled up inside of it. Too tired to weep, too terrified to breath, too broken to tremble. He closed his eyes and waited for death to come._

_The real Kurt watched in amazement as Mystique, in his form, ran down the path, straight towards the mob. As soon as she saw the first torched she skidded and began running in the exact opposite direction that dream Kurt lay._

_"There! There's the demon!" The man with the shotgun shouted. He took aim, and let a bullet fly with a 'crack'! It grazed Mystique's shoulder. She yelped, in his voice, and began running faster._

_*_

_Wanda struggled, screaming. "Wait! Just wait until I get my hands out!" She shouted. She was ten, it had been four years since she had been brought to this hell-on-earth. She was cursing, struggling with the guards. The man she only knew as 'The Doctor' was standing there, his syringe ready._

_"That's not proper language for such a young lady," he said quietly._

_"Bite me, asshole!" She snapped, twisting her jacket, trying to free one of her hands._

_"You keep acting like this, Wanda, and we'll have to use shock treatment again."_

_"I'm not a fucking animal! I have rights! You can't be **doing** this shit to me!" Wanda gasped as he plunged the syringe into her arm._

_"You're a **mutant** girl. You're worse than an animal. There are **animal rights activists**. No one cares about the mutants." He smiled softly at her. _

_Wanda managed to twist one finger out of the restraints. A chair flew across the room and smashed into the wall. She raged, and tried to send the fragments of the chair flying at the Doctor's head, but the liquid in the syringe kicked in, burning her veins and clouding her vision._

_"Hassole," she garbled, the world becoming increasingly fuzzy around her. "Fukming hassole." Her legs crumbled beneath her, and her head bowed to the ground._

_The Doctor smiled. "Bring me my tools."_

_*_

_"Don't let it get away!"_

_Kurt watched as the mob disappeared, following Mystique deeper and deeper into the woods. He swiftly returned to where dream Kurt lay, like he had suspected, his dream self had passed out._

_A few minutes later his adoptive parents found him. His mother gasped in horror and his father scooped him up. "Back to the wagon!" He ordered her. "Get the horses ready, we are leaving immediately!"_

_He remembered waking up hours later to find his tail wrapped up, his wounds cleaned and a damp cloth on his head. That night they fled the circus, went back to their isolated little cottage in the middle of nowhere. His parents had nursed him back to health. The first word he had spoken, upon recovering enough to speak, was "Why?"_

_His mother held him, crying, "Because the world is a cruel, cruel place my son. A cruel place, where people cannot look past what they see."_

_A few days later they were contacted by Charles Xavier. His parents had said nothing about if for months, not until after he had fully recovered. He was still scarred emotionally by the event, and when they had spoken of leaving and going to school in America he had refused._

_"No! The people there will be just as bad as the people here! I will not go ANYWHERE!"_

_He slammed the door in his father's face and curled up in a corner. Kurt watched his dream self as he rocked back and forth, knowing exactly what he was recalling. The bloodthirsty cries. The torches, The pitchforks. . ._

_'In America they will be worse!' He thought. 'They will have guns! They will lock me up and experiment on me!'_

_It was a strange cooing at his window that distracted him from his thoughts. He looked up and saw an injured baby screech owl. Kurt opened up the window and took the small creature up in his three fingered hand._

_"What are you doing here?" He asked the creature in German. The owl cooed at him. Kurt held it close to his chest, and opened the door to his room. He found his parents sitting at the kitchen table, looking worried. They looked up as they saw him._

_"It's hurt," Kurt said. _

_His father got up immediately and took the animal form his son. "We'll get a shoe box and some cloth and make a bed for it. Then we'll see what we can do."_

_It had taken them a few weeks to nurse the owl back to health. Kurt had become very attached to the creature. As it had gotten well it had taken up the habit of sleeping by his bedside. After about a month and a half the little owl was flying around the room._

_"It's time to let it go Kurt," his father told him gently. "Tomorrow night, we have to set him free."_

_"But what if he doesn't want to go back out there? What if he doesn't want to get hurt again?" Kurt said._

_His father frowned and said nothing._

_*_

_It wasn't so much that she disliked the darkness of the padded cell. The total absence of decoration didn't bother her either. It was the silence. The silence that left her only with her rage. Her father had abandoned her, left her here to die. The self righteous bastard. He was all about mutants rising above humans, preventing injustices, but he had left his own daughter with that **Doctor** that called himself a man. Her body still ached from the electricity he had run through her to get her to cooperate. She could remember his most recent experiment. She had been strapped down, nude, as he poked and prodded in places that he shouldn't have ever been allowed to touch. She still felt violated. She was fifteen now, she had spent the better part of nine years being tortured by that man, and by her memories of another._

_"I HATE YOU!" She screamed, hoping that somewhere, her father could feel that. "I hate you and that spineless coward that called himself my brother!"_

_"And what about me?"_

_Wanda twisted around to see the Doctor's eyes at the slot in the door. Her rage built up into a bellow inside of her as she lunged at the door, slamming her shoulder up against it. "YOU! I'll KILL you! Just like I'll KILL that son of a bitch who thinks he's my father!! Just let me out once, just once with my hands free and I swear to high heaven I'll turn you inside out!"_

_The Doctor laughed._

_Wanda spit through the door slat._

_The Doctor jerked his head back and scowled at her, "That'll cost you dinner for the next week."_

_"Fuck dinner! You only give me leftover processed **garbage** anyway!" Wanda roared._

_"Well you'll be wishing you had that processed garbage after a week of no meals," the Doctor snapped. To a nearby guard he said, "Keep her in isolation. No one is to talk to her, pass her **any** food, or even look at her. Am I understood?"_

_The guard nodded. "Yes sir."_

_Wanda listened to the sounds of the retreating Doctor until she was left in silence once again. She began twisting and turning in her straight jacket. The one thing the Doctor hadn't realized was that he had now given Wanda a week alone, and she was ready for it. Even only a few hors into her twisting, the small part of one of the metal belts that held her tightly bound was beginning to slip out of its hole._

_*_

_Kurt went to his room, where the little owl was sleeping on his bed. As he entered the little creature woke and hooted at him._

_"Hello my little friend," Kurt said. "Did you sleep well?"_

_The little owl hooted in reply. _

_Kurt chuckled. "That's good." He sat down on the bed. The owl fluttered up to rest on his knee, where Kurt pet it gently._ _"My parents say I have to let you go tomorrow."_

_The owl stayed silent._

_"But- I don't want you to get hurt again. It's a cruel world out there. People hurt people, before they even know why."_

_The owl cooed._

_"My parents want me to go to America. To go to a school with people who are- different. Like me. . . But not like me. I'm afraid that they will be scared of me. That they will hate me. That they will hurt me."_

_The owl puffed up under his fingers. Kurt looked at him.  
"Do you want to go back out into the world that hurt you? The world that left you for dead?"_

_The little owl hooted softly and spread its wings as widely as it could. _

_Kurt looked at it thoughtfully. "Maybe- maybe you're right my little friend." Kurt got up off of the bed and went back into the main part of the house. He told his father that he wanted to meet Charles Xavier and see what he had to offer. His parents were proud of him._

_*_

_It had been a long week. Wanda had passed out once due to a lack of fluids in her system. The Doctor, who didn't want his precious experiment to die on him, order the guards to give her water. She had been working furiously on the straps of her jacket, and finally had them loose enough that she could move her hands. She sat in the darkest corner of the room. She heard the Doctor and his entourage approach._

_"Open the door."_

_The guard did so and Wanda struggled a little as they placed the collar on her, like she was an animal. Her eyes flashed with fire. The Doctor smiled._

_Wanda smiled back._

_That unnerved him instantly. He lunged at her with the usual syringe, but she, moving just a few fingers, made it explode in his face. With a further movement she freed herself from the collar and had her arms moving freely._

_"**This** is what happens when an animal gets their revenge!" She shouted. She flung her hands out in front of her and the Guards coming towards her shot backwards into the wall. She whipped her hands over her head and the long pointed needle that would have injected her for the umpteenth time spun into the air. The Doctor backed away in horror._

_"Don't!" He begged._

_That set her off. "How many times have I begged **you** to stop? You torture me day after day, week after week, year after year! I'M ENDING THIS RIGHT NOW!" _

_The needle shot through the air and pierced the jugular vein of the Doctor, then pulled away, causing a stream of blood to begin to shoot from his neck. He sputtered, grasped at the wound and gaped at her. Wanda flicked her finger and the needle plunged through the front of his throat, silencing his gasps, but making him gurgle as blood came up in his mouth._

_"Now I'm an **animal** just like **you**," she hissed. Looking at the Doctor bleeding on the floor and realizing what she had done she gagged._

_"Oh god, oh god no. I'm just like. . . Just like my father. . ." She gasped. _

_Guards leapt up to restrain her, and some went to help the Doctor, even though it was too late. The man who had been the second in command over her situation commanded, "Get that man Xavier on the phone!" He looked at the Doctor, dead on the floor. "I knew you would push her too far. I knew it. You just wouldn't listen."_

_Wanda's mind raced. They were most certainly going to kill her now. Why wouldn't they? They had no reason to keep her alive. She had killed the man that had wanted to keep her alive. Alive for sinister purposes, granted, but alive. For the first time in years, not in anger, but in sheer terror Wanda screamed, "FATHER!"_

Pietro was shaking her awake."Wanda? Wanda? Whathehellisgoingon?" 

Throat sore and dry Wanda jerked awake with a terrified gasp. "Oh, oh god, Pietro!" She threw her arms around her brother, trembling. "I- I had the most awful nightmare. . . Father- he'd left me in an Asylum. . ." 

Pietro stiffened. 

". . .It was horrible! There was this man, Pietro, this man, he tortured me for years and years and then I killed him. I _killed_ him!" She was whimpering. "But I _wanted_ to kill him so much, because he used me as a lab rat! He cut me and poked me and used all sorts of tools and electricity. . ." 

Wanda could not see the mortified look on Pietro's face as she buried her head in his shirt. Before her brain had been rewired Wanda had said very little about her time at the Asylum. If this dream had been some sort of memory. . .then she _might_ have been tortured for years. He'd never thought of what they would have done to her, knowing she was a mutant. Mutants didn't have the same sorts of rights as other people. Not yet anyway. He spoke slowly, in a reassuring tone. 

"It was just a dream Wanda." 

"It felt so _real_ Pietro. I wanted you and father to rescue me so badly. I thought I had done something wrong. . ." 

Pietro hugged his sister tighter. "It's okay, it's okay Wanda. You know that Dad and I would _never, ever_ leave you in someplace like that. We would never want you hurt." 

Wanda sobbed brokenly into his shirt. Pietro rubbed her back gently, and felt something that made him swallow hard. Running down Wanda's spine was a long scar. 

_No way! Someone. . . Someone **really** hurt her in that place?!_

"I- I could go get him," Pietro said softly. "I'll find him for you, you know I will." 

"No!" She exclaimed. "No. . . I don't want him to see me like this, all because of some stupid dream. . ." 

"Hey- wassamatter with my sweetie pie?" Toad said, finally entering with Blob. 

"Wanda had a nightmare," Pietro cast them a warning look, "about being thrown in an Asylum by our father." 

"NEVER!" Toad said, maybe a tad too loud. "Yo' poppa would never do that sort of thing!" 

"Exactly," Blob echoed. 

"See?" Pietro said. "Father loves you. He would never put you through that." 

Wanda, still shaking, nodded. "You're right," she murmured. "Yeah, of course. You're right. . ." 

Pietro was gone and back in an instant. "There, I put some milk on the stove. I'll make you some hot chocolate, so we can talk about it." 

Wanda smiled weakly at him. "Thank you Pietro. I know I can always count on you." 

Somewhat guiltily Pietro smiled at her, and then sped down to the kitchen to watch the milk. 

* 

_The real Kurt watched with a twinge of sadness as his dream self let the owl go the next night and then went back into the house. He did, however, note that the little owl suddenly turned around and landed nearby a window. His jaw_

_dropped as the owl morphed into Mystique._

_"So. . . This professor Xavier-"_

_"He's coming to meet you next week Kurt. If you like what he says, you can go with him as soon as you want. If you don't we will not pressure you into leaving," his father said gently._

_Mystique looked furious. "**Xavier**! That stuffed imbecile! How **dare** he steal **my son**! He must know- he's doing this to spite me! That insufferable, meddling **cripple**!" She swore. "I'll kill him! I'll kill that bastard! He can't have my son! Not after what I went through to protect the boy!"_

_Kurt was slightly taken aback by that statement, but then noticed the barely healed wounds on Mystique. The most ugly of these was one on her shoulder, which looked like it had been horribly infected. Kurt swallowed hard. The owl had been injured in the wing, with a bad infection. So bad that it had almost killed it. . ._

_The scene abruptly turned violent. Kurt was in Mystique's shoes as she raced away from the mob in his form. The wound on his. . . Her shoulder throbbed. Quite a few villagers had taken t__o throwing things._ _She shrieked in pain as another bullet tore through her leg and she collapsed, twisting around to put her arms up to defend herself._

_The mob was upon her in an eye blink. They were tearing at her skin, raking at her eyes, shouting and screaming. Mystique's cries of pain were beaten out of her. Kurt felt the bull of the man's rifle come down against her skull again, and again, and he screamed with her. She did the only thing she could- abruptly changed into an animal and ran off. The villagers screamed 'Sorcery', but she could care less. Her form, which looked somewhat like a rabbit, __collapsed as soon as she was out of their view. She pulled herself into a hole and tried to find a form that would help her recover from her injuries. She could hardly breathe. One of the men had been crushing her trachea. . ._

"Kurt? Kurt! Wake up!" 

"Oh my god Rogue, did you hear him scream-?" 

"Kitty- shut up an' go find th' professah!" 

Kurt's eyes snapped open. He was on the floor of Kitty and Rogue's room, tangled in his bed sheets, which Rogue was trying frantically to remove from around his neck. Kitty grabbed the sheets and pulled, phasing them off of her furry friend. 

"Jesus Christ, Kurt!" Rogue gasped. 

Kurt was trembling and sweating. "Vhat-? Vhy am I in here?" 

"'Bout three seconds ago ya teleported yahself int' th' middle o' our room. When Ah say middle, I mean _middle_. Mid air an' all," Rogue informed him. "And you were choking by th' looks of it. Or about to." 

Kurt rubbed his throat. It did feel sensitive. "Oh man, oh man oh man oh man. . ." He gulped. 

"Kitty- go find th' professah!" Rogue ordered again. 

"All right- all right!" Kitty phased through the wall. 

"Kurt- what th' hell happened? Ya were screaming when you appeared!" 

"Ah- Ah had a dream- about our mother." 

Rogue knew who he was referring to immediately. "What th' heck was she doin' t' ya?!" 

"She wasn't _doing_ anything to _me_! She was doing something _for_ me. She saved my life, Rogue," Kurt shook his head. "She saved my life and I never knew!" 

Rogue stared at him with wide eyes. "Kurt- did you get hit on the head? We're talking about Mystique, fir' o' all, an' a _dream_ secondly. It didn't really happen." 

"No! No, Rogue it _vas_ real! You don't understand!" 

"Kurt-" she began but by that time the Professor and others had arrived. 

"Are you all right Kurt?" The professor asked. 

"_Ja_, I'm all right now, professor. I had. . . A bad nightmare." 

Rogue shot him a look. The professor noticed and raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. 

"I'm okay, I just. . .need to get back to my own room," Kurt said, looking sheepish. 

That drew a bit of a chuckled from some of the other students. Xavier smiled. "Well, if that's all then. . ." 

Rogue looked at Kurt pointedly, but he nodded. "Dhat's it professor." 

Rogue said nothing. 

"I suggest that we all go back to what we were doing then." 

Bobby began complaining loudly that he, Sam, and a few of the other younger students had just missed the bast part of the movie they had been watching when Jubilee pointed out that it was a DVD anyway. Bobby's eyes lit up and the group of younger students raced downstairs to see if they could get better positions on the couch. Kurt slunk out of the room when Kitty told him that she wanted to finish changing- he noticed that she was in jeans and her pajama top. Kurt apologized, and Kitty shut the door on him just before Rogue opened her mouth to speak. He was glad about that. He didn't really feel like getting into an argument with his 'sister'. 

* 

Jean and Scott had finally gotten the main course of their meal, and Jean had spent the better part of ten minutes trying to convince Scott to try a piece of sushi. "One little piece isn't going to hurt you!" 

"That's what you think!" Scott said, shaking his head. "No way. I'd rather try my luck against Apocalypse." 

Jean flinched. 

"Sorry!" Scott said quickly. He knew how broken up Jean had been after the professor was zapped by Apocalypse. If his mentioning it had the effect he supposed, Jean had probably just envisioned him disappearing into nothingness. "I didn't mean to-" 

"It's okay Scott." 

"No it's not," he grumbled. "I should have thought about what I was going to say before I said it." 

"Scott," she said seriously. "There is one way you could make it up to me." 

"How?" 

Jean held out a piece of sushi. "Open up." 

Scott groaned. "I asked for that one, didn't I?" 

"Oh yeah," she said as he gingerly took the fish. 

"Oh well, here goes nothing. . ." He said gulping the fish down. Jean watched his expression. 

_It's not that bad, is it Mr. Summers? You just don't want to admit defeat out loud, _Jean said mentally as he tried to hide his surprise. 

_All right, all right, you win_, he admitted. 

Jean leaned over and kissed him across the table. Scott blinked. His faced glowed as she settled back into his chair. A few other the other dinner guests mumbled things like "How cute," and "Well isn't that sweet?" 

"You are too nervous," Jean teased him gently. "You need to loosen up and-" she paused. "That's. . . Odd." 

"What?" Scott asked. 

_I sense a psychic of some sort nearby. I can't pinpoint him. . . but I think. . . I think his mind is connected to someone at the mansion. . . _She said mentally. 

_Any idea who it is?_

_Not sure. He cloaks himself well. . ._

_Mesmero?_

_No, I know his mind. It's not him._

_What about- that guy working for Magneto? _

_I can't be sure. . . But maybe. . . I think you're right. . ._ Jean frowned. _He's nearby us, working from afar, so I'm not sure the professor knows- wait! _She swore mentally. 

_What?_

_He sensed me. Cut the power. Blocked me out. _Jean scowled. 

_Maybe we should head back to the mansion. . . See what's up?_ Scott made a move to call the host over to get the check. 

_No Scott. . . He's not causing any more trouble. Let's just finish our date like we had planned to,_ Jean mentally protested. 

_You sure?_  
_Of course._

The rest of dinner was eaten in a sort of tense silence. They both were wondering what would await them when they got home. After departing, they rode back in the car without saying a word to each other, both worried. 

"Jean, Scott, you're back earlier than I expected," Ororo said, surprised. 

"I thought I felt a disturbance at the restaurant," Jean explained. "Is everything all right?" 

"Well, yes, Kurt had a nightmare earlier but that was sorted out an hour ago," Ororo nodded in the direction of the clock, which now read eleven-thirty. 

"I see," Jean frowned more. "Thank you Ororo." _Maybe I was wrong Scott. Maybe I was just nervous, and I was imagining things._

_Why would you need to be nervous Jean?_ Scott thought back at her. _You're perfect._

Jean laughed out loud at him. "Mr. Summers, you flatter me too much." She planted a long good night kiss on his lips, then pulled away and whisked off to bed. 

* 

Wanda couldn't sleep. Not even after the hot chocolate. Her dream was haunting her. It had all seemed so vivid, so real. So. . .terrifyingly real. Pietro could hear her tossing and turning from all the way down the hall. He frowned. Finally he got out of bed and raced out of the house, zooming to all the spots his father might be at, finally finding him in his office at the Acolytes' base. 

"Father?" 

Magneto looked up, a bit startled. It was unlike Pietro to come looking for him when he hadn't requested it. Lately though, his feelings for his children had taken a sharp turn. He saw the worried look on Pietro's face and his brows furrowed. "Pietro, what's wrong?" 

"That- that mind wipe that Mastermind did on Wanda- was it supposed to wear off?" 

Magneto's attention towards his son suddenly became more rapt. "Wear off? No. Why?" 

"She- she had a nightmare tonight. A bad one. AboutbeingthrowninanAsylum," he added the last bit in one breath. 

Magneto stood up. "I see," he said gravely. 

"Father- didyouever- did you ever check up on what they were doing to her in that place?" Pietro asked slowly. His face worried his father even more. 

Magneto frowned and said, "I regret to say I did not. Why?" He shifted his cloak about him with a swish, and removed his helmet. 

"Because- because she told me, shetoldmethat in the nightmare, there was a guy. . .a guy who did things to her. Experiments. . ." Pietro stammered. 

Magnetos eyes glowed. "_What_?" 

"She has a scar- down her back. A _big_ scar. Ithink. . . I think that they used her to experimenton untilshe killed the guy doing the experiments." 

Pietro could practically see the bile surging in his father's expression. 

"_They. Did. What?_" Magneto roared. He was furious at the humans, and at himself. Wanda, his daughter, experimented on by those vile flat-scans! And he himself had given them the opportunity! When he had abandoned the girl, he had done it for much different reasons. He had never wanted her hurt. After the incident with Apocalypse he realized how much he cared for the child, how wrong he had been. He was genuinely sorry. He had debated having Mastermind remove the mind blocks one by one, and trying to explain his actions to Wanda- but he was scared of losing her. However the fact that Wanda was having these dreams troubled him. Mastermind had assured him that no one but he himself could break the mind blocks. . . Magneto's eyes flashed in rage. 

"Father?" 

"I'm going to move my visit up a day Pietro," Magneto said firmly. "Don't tell your sister." 

Pietro nodded and whizzed off. 

"Creed!" Magneto shouted. Sabertooth entered the room with a grumble and a bow. "Come with me. We have some work to be done." He began to fly out of the room, putting his helmet on, his eyes glowing furiously. 

Sabertooth knew better than to disobey him when he was in mood like this. He followed wordlessly as Magneto left the base and began hover through the night sky, like a wraith. 

* 

"Kurt, Ah know yah in there, and Ah know yah awake. Now open up willya?" Rogue said tapping lightly on Kurt's door. "Don' make me go get th' professah an' tell him what ya told me. Kurt? Kurt!" She knocked on the door more fiercely, "Kurt open th' freakin', goddamn, door yah fuzzy elf!" 

Kurt lay on his bed, his arms underneath his head. He thought about opening the door for Rogue for a minute, but frowned. He really just wanted some time to think things through. 

"_KURT!" _Rogue said with more passion. "Kurt, open this door or Ah swear t' gawd Ah'll-" 

"Rogue, what's going on?" 

Kurt sat up, recognizing the voice. Rogue turned around to see Jean. Rogue did a double take, looking over the way Jean was dressed up, and then remembered that she had gone on a date with Scott. 

"Kurt won' open th' door," Rogue said flatly. 

"Maybe he's asleep," Jean offered, but Rogue shook her head. 

"Naw, he's up. Ah know it," the southerner hissed. "But he's being' stubborn!" She directed the last comment at the door. 

"Why do you need to talk to him so badly? Can't it wait until morning?" Jean asked. The thin-lipped expression she got in reply surprised her. 

"Ah'm not waitin' 'till mawnin'. We need t' talk now, _before he does somethang stupid,_" again, her comment was directed at the door. 

Kurt grunted and rolled over onto his side. Rogue was the stubborn one. 

"Rogue-" 

"Ya don' un'erstan' Jean, so stay outta it. . ." 

Jean observed Rogue's expression. "Is this about Mysti-" 

"Shut. Up." Rogue snapped. "Don' say that woman's name." 

"Wait- what exactly is going-" 

She was cut off by a 'bamf', and the arrival of a semi-irritable looking Kurt. "Let's talk," he said to Rogue. 

"'Bout freakin' time," she retorted, in the same irritable tone. 

Kurt put a hand on Rogue's covered shoulder and teleported the two into his room. Kurt made his way out onto the balcony, and Rogue followed him. 

He was the first one to speak. 

"What makes you hate her so much?" 

Rogue looked at him incredulously. "Yah kiddin' me right? Yah not really askin' that. Let's think. Oh, yeah. Every _single_ time she was involved with me she was lyin' or usin' me, more often than not, both." 

"Did you ever dhink dhat maybe. . . Just maybe she was actually trying to do somedhing _for us_?" 

"Like when she released Apocalypse? T' turn th' world int' mutant? T' _help us_?" Rogue said bitterly. 

Kurt was quiet. Then he said, "It made sense. Dhe dreams. Dhey all made sense. Dhey all seemed like the truth." 

"Th' best lies always have a grain of truth t' them Kurt," Rogue said. "They were _dream_s Kurt. O' course they're going t' make sense in a dreamlike way. That don' mean what happened was real." 

Kurt's tail flicked back and forth. Rogue bit her lip, then spilled out, "Was it something about the mob that tried to kill you?" 

Kurt rounded on her, eyes wide. "How in dhe vorld do you know about dhat?" 

"Ah've absorbed you Kurt. O' course Ah know about that. Ah- Ah've nevah wanted t' mention it before. . ." Her eyes looked glazed for a second. "Not even aftah Ah've had. . . Nightmares about it. . ." 

Kurt's face looked pained, "Rogue you should have _told _me!" 

"Why? There's nothin' _you_ could do about it," she said angrily. "'Sides, this ain't about me. It's about _you_. Was it th' mob?" 

Kurt nodded. "_Ja_. . .mother. . .she changed into me. . .led them away. . ." 

Rogue pursed her lips. "You know, it _was_ a dream. _A dream_ Kurt. You understand that, right? That it wasn't real?" 

_And that there was a psychic in contact with one of the minds in the mansion, as Jean has just informed me_. Xavier's mental voice boomed. The two teenagers closed their eyes, and saw the Astral projection of the professor and Jean. 

_So, vhat does dhat mean?_ Kurt thought anxiously. 

Xavier sighed. _From what I can tell, Mastermind was manipulating your dreams, making you see what he- or someone else wanted you to see._

Rogue opened one eye and saw the dejected droop in Kurt's shoulders and the sudden inactivity in his tail. 

_So, you dhink dhat mother vas telling him vhat to show me?_

_I'm afraid so._

Kurt sighed heavily. _I understand professor. . ._

Xavier said no more, and faded out slowly. Kurt opened his eyes. 

"But- but I vant to believe it Rogue. How could someone abandon dheir own child, an just not care?" Kurt's eyes begged for answers. 

"Ah- Ah don't know Kurt. . ." She swallowed hard and stammered. 

Kurt squeezed his eyes shut. "I- I need some time to dhink." He teleported out of the room. 

Rogue coughed. "That stupid bitch. . . Why can't she leave us alone?!" She snarled, leaving Kurt's room. He was probably on the roof. She thought about going up there to find him, but then dismissed it. He probably needed some time alone. 

* 

"YOU." Magneto's voice rolled like thunder as he slammed Mastermind up against a wall using the iron in his blood. "How. DARE. You." 

Mastermind sputtered. "Magneto- what- what have I done?" 

"_You know perfectly well what you have done!_" Magneto bellowed. "If you ever, _ever_ even entertain the _thought_ of betraying me again I will have Sabertooth rip your bowels from your belly!" He made the iron in Masterminds body heat up. "_Who told you to do this? _Was it that miserable woman? _Was it Mystique?_" 

"Yes!" He gasped. "Yes! I'm sorry! She- she gave me more money than I had ever seen in my life!" 

Magneto roared in anger and flung Mastermind into a wall. "You will _never_ do anything like this _again_! Now- you will tell me- _what were her specific orders_? Did you make up what was in those dream? Or did you draw upon her memories?" 

"I- I-" he stuttered in horror. 

"**_ANSWER ME!_**" 

"I was told to draw upon memories! I- I was never sure what the girl was dreaming! I only- altered some of the memories- for the boy- changed perspective-" Mastermind said, eyes wide with horror. 

Magneto's face was a mask of stone. He dropped Mastermind abruptly. The boy must be Mystique's son, but that didn't matter to him. What did matter was that what Pietro said was true. If the dreams had been memories, then Wanda had been tortured. 

A set of blue numbers on his right arm burned. 

Without another word Magneto began flying towards the boarding house. 

* 

He arrived in mere minutes, and Toad opened the door for him. The boy was surprised that Magneto didn't make some sort of derogatory comment towards him. His complexion paled, however, as he saw Magneto drop down onto the floor in front of Wanda's room. He removed his helmet, and his cloak, and dropped them to the ground. He put his hand on the door handle and pushed the door open. 

Pietro was there, talking to his sister again in soothing, quick words, which caught and stopped as he saw his father. He let go of Wanda wordlessly and backed away. 

Magneto did something he had never imagined he would do in a hundred thousand years, or longer. He wrapped his arms around his daughter. She suddenly began crying in his embrace. He rocked her slightly, his own memories clouding his vision for a moment. "Wanda, my poor, scared, _brave_ little girl," he murmured. "I'm so sorry." 

Wanda didn't hear his mumbling, she was too focused on the way she felt safe in his arms. Pietro's eyes went about as wide as they could go without dropping out of his skull entirely. A tear or two trickled down his father's cheek. Had the affair with Apocalypse changed the man that much? He couldn't believe it. 

"Hush, Wanda. It's all right. I will never, _ever_ leave you. Never again. Never," Magneto murmured, visions of his own parents being slaughtered before his eyes flashing through his mind. "_Never_," he repeated, stroking her hair. He looked up at his son, a look of such fatherly. . . _something_ there that Pietro almost gasped. 

"S- Should I- gomakesomehotchocolate?" He said nervously. 

Magneto looked down at the top of Wanda's head and nodded. "Perhaps that would be a good idea." 

Pietro nodded and was downstairs in a flash. 

Magneto closed his eyes. _One day, one day I will have to tell her. . ._

That thought was one of the very few things that had ever scared him. 

* 

Kurt watched as the moon began to dip below the horizon. In the east there was faint traces of the rosy colored dawn creeping along the mansion lawn. He had spent the better part of the night on the roof, debating with himself. Or himself and a little version of Rogue representing his logical set of views, trying to talk some sense into him. 

"Vhy do you keep on doing dhis to me mother? I don't know whether I can trust you or not!" He said loudly. 

The sleepy moon made no reply, but somewhere far off Kurt heard an owl hooting. 

He stood up, trying to located the source of the sound, but whether it was a passing bird or it was indeed Mystique, he could not be certain. 

"Kurt? Are you coming down for training?" Kitty asked, popping her head up through the roof. "The professor said you could, like, skip it today if you wanted." 

Kurt looked at her concerned face and put on a goofy smile. "You might think me veird, but I dhink I'll come down and train." He looked around at the rising sun and the setting moon. "It'll help me relieve some stress." 

"Okay, I'll, like, see you in a couple of minutes then?" Kitty asked. 

"_Ja_," Kurt said. 

She phased her head back down through the roof and Kurt sighed. 

"Vell, vhether you were trying to tell me dhe truth or not mother," he addressed the morning sun, "I do vant you to know that some part of me does love you. And I think some part of Rogue does too, otherwise she wouldn't feel so hurt about what you did to her." 

Kurt teleported off of the roof with a flourish. 

A owl hooted. 


	4. Episode 4: Suit of Armor

_**Disclaimer:_ I STILL don't own the X-Men, which is disappointing, but so long as MARVEL (who does own them) keeps on cranking out good stories I can't really complain. 

**Author's note: I reposted this Episode because of a few typos and a few phrases that were driving me nuts. I am going to triple check the next episode to get rid of the typos. GRRR!! 

_Suit of Armor_

The football arched through air, looking misleadingly lazy as it spun about. Bobby Drake threw up his arms and shouted loudly, "I GOT IT!" 

A wall of ice shot up from his hands, curving in such a way that it would deliver the ball right to his outstretched extremities. Bobby grinned wildly. "And Robert Drake saves the day, _again_!" he thundered triumphantly. 

"I think not comrade!" 

Peter Rasputin crashed through the ice wall in his steel form and caught the ball in one deft movement. Bobby, stunned by the sudden loss of his impending glory, didn't realize what had happened until Peter was well in front of him. 

"Hey!" he shouted. "That's not fair!" He immediately began to give chase, but for such a large teenager, Peter was surprisingly fast. 

Beast, watching from the front steps called out jovially, "All's fair in love and football, Mr. Drake!" He applauded as Peter crossed over the crudely made goal line. His teammates, Amara and Jamie, ran over to him.   
"All right!" Amara cried, eyes sparkling. She gave Peter a big hug and he blushed. "Way to go _big guy_! You're great!" 

"I do not think I hev done much," he said slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. "It was nothink. . ." 

"Are you kidding me?!" multiple Jamies said as one. "I can cover half the field with clones and _never_ pull that off!" Jamie, Jamie, Jamie, Jamie and Jamie gave him high fives while another three or four Jamies patted him on the back. 

"Comrades, I-" he began. He was interrupted by that shouting match between Ray and Bobby. 

"_Pushovers_!" Ray shouted. "Pushovers, you say! 'Don't worry Ray, Amara and Jamie got nothing on us, and the new guy's from Russia, what could he possibly know about football?'" Rays hands began to spark. "What now Iceman? They're winning because of the Russian _who 'doesn't know' how to play!_" 

"Hey, how was I to know he was going to pick up on the rules so fast?!" Bobby snapped back at him. "I mean, he never struck me as clever, since he stayed so long with that bucket-head!" 

Peter's head turned and his face fell. All of the Jamies snapped into one and looked at him. Amara also wore a bemused expression. 

"Whoa, take it easy boys," Beast said, coming between Bobby and Ray and placing a hand on each boy's shoulder. Once he had pushed them apart he glanced at each in turn. "Bobby," he said in a low tone, "you don't know the story, so please, keep your comments about _anyone's_ previous alliances _to yourself_." Bobby and Ray both looked a bit thrown by the warning. "Ray," he said loudly, "you should know better than to start acting like a sore loser. Temper, temper," he chided. 

"It is all right, sir. I don't mind so much," Peter said, recovering. "What deh others do not know is zat in Russia my older brother and I would play game like football when we weren't workink on deh farm." His smile seemed hollow though, his thoughts, preoccupied. 

"Hey, what's going on out here?" 

Roberto and Sam landed silently on the lawn, panting a bit from an aerial race they had been involved in. Roberto was looking curiously across the field. 

"What?! Don' tell me y'all are havin' a football game an' ya didn't call me!" Sam said in a hurt tone. "Now that jus' ain't fair at all." 

"I tell you what comrade," Peter said generously, "I was joost going to cut out of deh game for lunch. You take my place, and Roberto can join too az partner for Bobby and Ray. Is good plan, no?" He thumped Sam on the back, some of his mirth returning. 

"Hey, thanks," Sam beamed at him. 

"Is pleasure," Peter returned. "I see you later, Jeemy, Ahmarah." 

"Yeah, see you Pete," Amara said, a bit of worry creeping into her tone. 

Beast watched with a furrowed brow as Peter retreated into the house. Bobby came up behind him and asked, "What was that all about?" 

"Men at some times are masters of their fates; the fault, dear Robert, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings," Beast quoted softly. He then added, "But sometimes we cannot choose who we are underlings for. . ." 

"Uh. . ." Bobby looked up at him, "Is that on our quiz later?" 

Beast sighed. 

Peter pushed open the doors to the mansion and made his way to the kitchen. 

"Hey Pete," Warren said, as he spread a generous amount of peanut butter across a piece of white bread. "Whazzup?" 

Peter, who had just reached for the handle to the fridge, paused and gave Warren a look of complete bafflement. "I- I'm sorry comrade. I do not think deh professor hez taught meh zat word yet." His brows furrowed in thought. 

Warren's face lit up in amusement. He chuckled and as he saw Peter's face redden in embarrassment he said, "It's slang. I'm asking you 'what's up', you know; how are you, what's new?" 

"Ohhhhh," Peter nodded, opening the fridge and pulling out the cold cuts. "Eh, noothing mooch. I hev plans to call my family to-night." He set the cold cuts down on the counter and looked at the bread. "May I?" 

"Sure!" Warren said, pushing the bread towards him. "So, your family's still in Russia?" 

"Yes, well, my parents and sister Illyana. My brother. . . He died a few years ago in an accident. He was a cosmonaut, there was a problem weeth deh spaceship. . . It exploded," Peter murmured. 

"I'm sorry to hear that," Warren said quietly. "I never had any siblings, and my parents aren't around so much, so I can't imagine what losing a family member that you were so close to was like." 

"It was a livink nightmare," Peter said, closing his eyes. "I could not bear to lose any more of my family." 

He had been functioning almost automatically, slowly putting together his sandwich. Warren noticed this. He remained silent until Peter spoke again. 

"Does deh school hev a football team?" 

Warren looked at him and blinked. "You're interested in playing for the school?" 

"Eef there is a team, yes." 

Warren looked him over and said, "Well, you certainly have the build for it. Yeah there's a team. Mr. McCoy actually coached it while he was still a teacher at Bayville, and he was on the team when he went to high school. You could probably ask him about how the school runs the program." 

"I think I will," the Russian nodded. He took his largely stuffed sandwich and set it down on the table. With one swoop he scooped up all of the cold cuts and replaced them inside the fridge. 

Warren looked at the large teen and the large sandwich and muttered with a chuckle, "It almost makes me feel inadequate. . ." 

"Eh?" Peter turned around, looking puzzled again. 

"Nothing," Warren explained. "I was just talking to myself." 

* 

Tabitha had commandeered one of the mansion computers and signed into AIM. Her screen name, 'BoomKat' flickered across the screen as she typed in her password. She immediately entered a private chat called 'X-Gurls', and smiled as she saw the names that were all ready in it. They read 'Firecracker688' and 'MoonlightChanger'. 

**I'm here! The party can start now! ;)** Tabitha typed. 

**Oh, like you're the life of the party, yeah, right,** came Firecracker's reply. 

Tabitha grinned. **Of course I am! I mean, what were you two talking about _before_ I got here? Anything?__**

**__We were actually talking about Jubilee being offered a spot at another school for mutants,** Changer butted in. 

"Whoa!" Tabitha said out loud. **0.o _Another_ school for mutants? I thought Xavier's was the only one?!** **Where is this place? What's it like?**

**I don't know what it's like yet,** Firecracker typed. **It was originally started in Boston, but for some reason it moved when the headmistress heard about Xavier's school. She made up some cock-and-bull story about how the 'increased tensions two large groups of mutants would cause would make an unstable and unsafe learning environment.** **Now the school's based here in California.**

**What's the headmistress' name?** Tabitha asked. 

**I don't know; something snobby and cold. Winters or Frostbite or something. I really, really think I should just try to hitchhike back to Bayville,** Firecracker said in exasperation. **California's no fun when you're stuck at home because the 'rents don't want anyone to know their baby's a freak. I have a whopping zero friends here. **

**I'm sorry to hear that you're miserable in California. It's lovely here in Scotland.**

****"Hey Tabitha, who're you talking to?" Amara asked, peering over Tabitha's shoulder. 

"Jubilee and Rahne," Tabitha said looking back. "Jubes hates being stuck in California, and there's some other school for mutants trying to rope her. Rahne was just about to tell us all about her wonderful life in Scotland." 

"Ooo," Amara pulled up a chair. 

**How lovely is it?** Tabitha typed mischievously. **Any really hott Irish guys?**

**No,** Changer typed in rapid reply. **But Moira (that's me 'mum') has taken up dating a man named Sean Cassidy. He's a mutant, calls himself Banshee. That man's got a set of LUNGS! His power is supersonic screams. And his daughter is the same way. You should see me run whenever I think they're going to have a row. For some reason though she doesn't wan Professor Xavier to find out about it. They're really good friends, I can't figure it out. . .**

******I sense intrigue :),** Tabitha grinned. **I might have to do some investigating.**

**Oh please don't,** Changer said. **If mum finds out I told you then she'll have a fit.**

****Amara giggled. "Oh fun. A little intrigue and _suspense_. I wonder what's going on. . ." 

"Me too," Tabitha agreed. 

"Hey, tell them I say hi!" 

Tabitha nodded and typed **Amara sends her love, while laughing at you losers for leaving.**

"Hey!" Amara punched Tabitha's shoulder. "Gimmie that!" 

They wrestled over the keyboard during which time Jubilee and Rahne were forced to try and decipher **That notverkrjgncvda98 she's #$%#@ FGNYu5p98fq tryinge4q to ste taaerft She liekujhad. . .**

**Uh. . . .**

**We can't understand a word you're saying. . .**

**** Finally Amara managed to type **I am not laughing at you- **but that gave Tabitha enough time to flick a glowing ball at her face. Amara yelped and jumped back and Tabitha took over the keyboard once again. 

**Humph! People are so hostile!**

**Lol,** the two other girls responded. **I wonder why,** Jubilee added. 

**Ach! I'm sorry girls, I have to go now. I'll ttyl?** Changer asked. 

**Absolutely! See you Rahne!**

**Ciao Wolfy,** Tabitha threw in. 

**Bye!!**

**_MoonlightChanger left at 1:32_** the chat room host informed them. 

***Sigh* I guess I should probably be going too. My parents hate it when I'm on the computer and they aren't watching. They're worried I'll blow it up like I did to the last one. I'll ttyl too okay Tabitha?**

**Sure,** Tabitha typed. **Do me a favor though. If there are any hott guys at this other school, call me. I will transfer there soooo fast. . .**

**Lol. Sure Tabitha. See you later!**

**_Firecracker688 left at 1:34_**

Tabitha sighed. "Damn. It sucks so much that they're gone. We need more girl power here!" 

Amara echoed the sigh. "Yeah. I agree. Maybe their parents will let up now that things have settled down a little?" 

"I dunno. I bet Jubes' family stick her in this other place because it's 'closer to home'. It kind of surprises me that Rahne's 'mum' hasn't let her come back here yet." 

Amara shrugged. "Well, we don't know what her motives are. Maybe she feels Rahne is safer under her watchful eye." 

"Yeah, whatever," Tabitha shrugged. "I never liked begin under my parent's 'watchful eye'," she said bitterly, "but I'm sure that she doesn't have that sort of problem with her mum." 

"Aw Tabby-" 

Tabitha shoved her. "Don't you 'aw Tabby' me. I'm perfectly fine with what happened. My dad's an asshole, and I always knew it and I'm glad I'm out of there! Now come on, let's go get some lunch." 

* 

Beast scratched his chin. "So you're thinking of joining the football team?" 

"Ah, yes," Peter murmured softly. "I- I miss playink weeth my brother. I haven't played football since- since before he died." 

"This was your older brother? The cosmonaut?" 

"He was my only brother. I miss him terribly. . ." 

"Like you do the rest of your family, no doubt?" Beast added after a second. 

"Yes." He said nothing more, but his face was etched with worry. 

Beast watched the boy's shoulders slump and his fists clench on the table. Beast picked up an apple from the fruit bowl and bit into it, letting the boy have a moment to himself. "Did Magneto threaten them?" 

"No. Eef he had I would hev _killed_ him!" Peter said passionately. "No, he approached me and told me that he wanted to recruit me. At first I thought it was a good idea. . . And then I started hevink doubts. . ." He frowned. "But I was in too deep. . . And to fight my way out I would hev needed to be in steel form. . . And Magneto is master of Magnetism. . ." 

"I understand," Beast said gently. "So instead of keeping your family hostage, he kept _you _hostage." 

"Basically. Eef I did not do as he asked he would not let me go back to my family." Peter sighed. "But back to what we were supposed to be talking about. . . Do you think I hev any chance of gettink on deh team?" 

"Well if you play like you did today all the time Mr. Rasputin I think they'll be begging you to join." Beast smiled broadly at him. 

Peter smiled softly back. "Thank you. You do not know how much your con-fee-dance means to meh." 

Beast's smile grew greater. "Your English lessons are going well I assume?" 

"Yes. Deh professor is helpink me greatly. I did not talk so much weeth deh Acolytes because sometimes their quick speakink eluded meh. Now that I am having language 'cram lessons' as deh professor calls them I feel I am doink much better. I understand more. . . But I hev to get him to teach me more 'slang'. Warren confused meh weeth deh word. . . 'Wazzup'. . ." 

Beast chuckled. "Trust me, you'll hear enough of that word if you watch the right commercials." 

Peter gave him a funny look. Beast thumped him on the back heartily. "If you want I'll take you out back and toss around the old pigskin with you later- so you can practice for tryouts." 

"That would be nice," Peter said, nodding. 

"Great. I'll see you after dinner then?" 

"Sure," Peter nodded again. "I hev to go call my family, but I will be there after dinner." 

Beast smiled and led the boy to the door. Peter gave him one last smile and then retreated down the hall. Brows furrowed, he mumbled, "Americans are odd. Why do they throw around a pig for football practice?" 

* 

"Jubilation, you are going to love it at the Academy," Jubilee's mother said to her daughter as they zoomed down the highway. 

"But _mooooooooom_! I loved it at _Xavier's_! Why can't I go back there?!" Jubilee protested, pushing her headphones off of her ears. The rock music her CD player was playing could be heard faintly. 

"We want you closer to home honey," her father said. "Especially after all the things that have been happening with those. . . _people_ lately." 

"Those 'people' are my friends!" Jubilee said fiercely. 

"You'll make new friends," her mother interjected. 

"I like my _old_ friends. I don't want some stupid uniform-wearing-preps as friends," Jubilee snapped. "This school is going to bite." 

"Well 'bite' it may," he father grumbled, "but you're going to have to realize at some point that we're only trying to do what's best for you." 

"No, you're trying to do what's best for _you_. . ." 

"Jubilation!" Her mother chided. "We haven't even gotten to the school yet. It's just a visit for God's sake. Heaven forbid you give the school a once-over." 

"At least Heaven's on my side," Jubilee grumbled. 

"Young lady-" her father said in a warning tone. Jubilee wisely shut up and put her headphones back on. 

As they pulled up to the school Jubilee grumbled incoherently and turned off her CD player, placing inside a book bag she had brought with her. She shrugged it onto her back and got out of the car. 

"Well," her mother said also getting out as Jubilee's father turned to car off, "it's a beautiful old place isn't it?" 

The house was an exquisite old Victorian, the kind that loomed majestically over the land around it. Jubilee grunted. She _was_ impressed, but that didn't mean she was going to show it. Standing at the door was a woman dressed in an elegant white outfit. She was wearing an majestic white woman's business suit with a matching white skirt. She had short, platinum blonde hair, ice blue eyes, and blood red lips. Jubilee felt a shiver run down her spine. 

"I'm _so_ glad you could make the trip," the woman said extending her hand to Jubilee's mother. "I'm Emma Grace Frost, the headmistress of the Academy." Her icy gaze turned on Jubilee. "And you must be Jubilation." 

Jubilee could say nothing, so she nodded. 

After Jubilee's father had joined the little crowd at the door Ms. Frost led them inside. "At the Academy we strive to help our _unique_ student body become the best they can be, academically and with their _gifts." _

Jubilee glanced over her shoulder as she entered the old house, half expecting to see the door swing shut of it's own accord. Instead Ms. Frost invaded her line of sight and closed the door. Jubilee felt that it would have been more comforting if the door had shut because of some spirit. 

"Now, I had a little afternoon planned for the three of us," Frost said to Jubilee's parents, "discussing the way the Academy works, et cetera. Since I know Jubilee would be more interested in seeing some of the students I have arranged for one of my top pupils to show her around." She led them into her office and offered Jubilee's parents a seat. Then she pressed a small button on her desk and spoke into an intercom. "Mr. Anderson, if you could show Mr. Starsmore into my office?" 

"Of course Ms. Frost," came the crackling response. 

Jubilee faced the door as two men entered the office through the large mahogany French doors. One, forty some-odd and graying at the temples, was clearly Mr. Anderson. He tweaked his glasses nervously and blinked a few times with his watery eyes. "Mr. Starsmore," He said, presenting the brown haired teenager besides him. 

Jubilee gave 'Mr. Starsmore' a once-over. He was dressed, unlike Ms. Frost, in mostly black. He was wearing a long black leather coat and the entire front of his face was wrapped in some type of black cloth. Jubilee wondered why, and if it had to do with his mutation for a second, but found herself wondering about other things as he spoke for the first time. 

"_It's a pleasure to meet alla you._" 

Her parents spun around to face the boy and for a second Jubilee could have sworn she saw a smug smile on Ms. Frost's face. Before she could confirm it the smile had faded and Ms. Frost's was presenting Mr. Starsmore to Jubilee and her family. "This is Jonothan Starsmore." 

"His. . . Voice-" Jubilee's father stammered. 

Now it was Jubilee felt smug. Her parents had never heard Professor Xavier's mental voice. Jonothan has spoken telepathically. They were confused by Jonothan's way of speaking, while Jubilee was not. 

"Jonothan's powers first manifested in a rather violent manner. He was deprived his ability to speak verbally so he has to speak psychically," the Headmistress explained. 

"Ah," Jubilee's mother said as if that made perfect sense to her and her husband when it was clear that it did not. 

"_I'll be showing you 'round the place,_" the boy nodded towards Jubilee. 

Jubilee smiled faintly. He made her feel much more at ease than Ms. Frost did. 

"And we three can discuss the details of our program," Ms. Frost said, touching each of Jubilee's parents in turn. They nodded, wanting to get away from the psychically communicating boy whose powers had manifested violently. 

Jonothan heaved a great mental sigh, that Jubilee realized only she could hear when she didn't see her parents react. "_You can call me Jono. Most people do._" 

"Jono, cool. I'm Jubilee," she said grinning. She felt much better now that she was out of the sight of Ms. Emma Grace Frost. "It's a nickname that doubles as a code name." 

"_Very versatile of it. My code name is Chamber,_" they shook hands informally._ "From what Ms. Frost has told me you shoot off fireworks. My power is telekinetic blasts. And, obviously, telepathy . . . Which you seem pretty used to all ready._" He raised an eyebrow in question. 

"Professor Xavier- the man who ran my last school- was a psychic. One of the older girls was too. I'm used to it by now," she explained. 

"_Ah,_" he said. "_Well, then, you should get along fine here._" 

She looked at his face again. "What's with the mummy wrappings?" 

"_Eh, well, you heard Ms. Frost talk about my unfortunate first experience with my powers correct?_" When she nodded he began unwrapping the bandages and let them hang loosely. His entire face from the nose down and the greater part of the front of his chest was a swirling mass of gold and orange energy. 

"_Whoa_!" Jubilee gasped. 

"_Yeah. . . My power blew most o' the front part o' my body off. Not the most pleasant experience I've 'ad by any stretch of the imagination._" 

"I can only imagine," Jubilee rolled her eyes. 

"_However. . . I took it much better than my parents did, I assure you of that. . ._" Jono said. He began to wrap his face back up but Jubilee grabbed his hand. 

"Hey, don't do that. I'm not freaked out by it or anything. I lived with a couple of blue furry guys who were _much_ scarier looking." 

Jono's eyes sparkled. "_If you're sure you're okay with it. . ._" 

"Absolutely." 

"_Thank god. I always hate being wrapped up all the bloody time. Unfortunately, it's the only way I can be out in public. . ._" 

"That sucks. . ." 

They went on chatting liberally as Jono pointed out a few things about the house. 

* 

The phone had hardly rung once when Peter's mother picked up the phone. Her voice was full of worry. She spoke quickly, in Russian, as if expecting something, "(Hello?)" 

"(Hello mama,)" Peter said. "(It's Pitor. Is everything all right?)" 

"(Oh! Oh, Pitor!)" His mother gasped. She started sobbing over the phone. "(Pitor it is horrible!)" 

"(Mama, what is wrong?! Did something happen to Papa?!)" 

"(No-! It is Illyana. . .)" 

Warren, who was looking for Peter to ask him how his talk with Beast went, saw Peter's face turn sheet white as he entered the room. He asked what was going on but Peter didn't seen to hear him. 

"(Oh god- Illyana. . . Is she hurt? What happened?)" He questioned her frantically. 

"(We were outside. Illyana was playing with the doll that Papa made for her, and all of a sudden we heard her scream. We both came running over, and the scream abruptly cut off. We only found the doll. She's been missing for hours now!)" 

"(You never saw anyone?)" 

"(No one was around as far as the eye could see across the fields.)" 

"(Should I fly home? The professor- maybe he can help locate her. . .)" 

"(Oh, Pitor, we're so worried that she might have been kidnapped. . . We don't want people arriving at the house and scaring away anyone who might know something. . .)" His mother stammered. 

"(I promise Professor Xavier would be a great help. . .)" 

"(But what if that is what they want? What if they're really after you?)" She fell silent for a moment than said, "(What if it was that man- Magneto?)" 

Peter's mouth went instantly dry. Magneto, kidnap his sister? To what end? To bring Peter back under his wing? That might explain the fact that his parents saw no fleeing forms across the endless fields. "(Mama, I will find out if that is true. Don't you worry. I will find Illyana. She will not be harmed. . .)" 

"(Oh Pitor, I hope she is all right,)" his mother moaned. 

"(If she isn't there will be hell to pay," Peter said firmly. "(I love you Mama. Send my regards to Papa, but I think I am going to talk to the professor right now.)' Peter hung up the phone and on his way out nearly ran into Warren. 

"Comrade-?!" Peter blinked as he stopped just short of plowing Warren down. "I am sorry I hev no time to talk!" Peter said very quickly. 

"What's going on?" Warren shouted at Peter's retreating back. 

"I hev to save my sister!" Peter cried out running down the hallway. Warren darted after him. He thought he might be able to head Peter off by jumping off the balcony and landing on the floor below as Peter raced down the steps, but the big Russian was surprisingly fast. He took the steps in threes and had made a sharp turn into the professor's office before Warren even landed. 

Alex was in the office and, from the look of things, had been discussing his recent power developments with the professor. He was rubbing his hands, which were glowing slightly even through the thick leather gloves he had taken to wearing in the past few days. 

"Peter?" Charles looked up at him with worry lines etched along his face. 

"Professor, I need your help- it is urgent," Peter gasped, at a loss for breath. 

The professor did a quick mind scan to asses the situation and frowned. "Alex has been needing to speak to me for some time. . ." 

"My sister's _life_ might be in danger!" Peter practically burst. 

"I understand that Peter, however, given the circumstances-" 

"Prof, hey, it's cool," Alex said standing up. "I'll be okay for a while, and family is _important_. Believe me, I know." 

Charles smiled ruefully. "I suppose you're right Alex. Maybe you should talk to your brother for a bit while I help Peter." 

Alex nodded and escaped from the room. Warren, half in, half out of the room looked a bit baffled. 

"What's going on?" He asked. 

"Magneto may hev kidnapped my sister," Peter said shortly. "And I will NOT allow that!" 

Warren followed Peter and Xavier as they made their way down to Cerebro. "Professor, how exactly are you going to find Peter's sister with Cerebro if she isn't a mutant? Isn't Cerebro attuned to mutant brain waves and powers?" 

The professor looked up at him as the doors to the elevator slid open. "Illyana Rasputin _is_ a mutant. A latent one, but a mutant nonetheless. Her powers are dormant, probably because she's still so young. Only ten. . . Am I right Peter?" 

"Yes. . . She turned ten over deh summer," Peter said, willing the elevator to go faster. 

As the elevator doors slid open to allow its occupants to leave, Peter hurried past the professor. When they entered the Cerebro chamber Xavier wheeled himself up to the main computer consul and placed the helmet onto his head. 

"I noted your sister's brain pattern as soon as I realized she was a latent mutant. It should only take me a second to find her Peter. Don't worry," Xavier reassured him. "Now, I'm going to need absolute quiet. . ." 

Peter fidgeted slightly, his face etched with lines of concern. Warren folding his wings with a sigh of feathers and watched Peter's and the professor's expressions carefully. Xavier's brow furrowed suddenly, in intent concentration. His lips pressed together and he squeezed his all ready shut eyes. Finally he removed the helmet and turned back to Peter. Peter couldn't even speak his concern before the Professor said, "I'm afraid something it wrong." 

Warren placed a hand on Peter's shoulder to prevent him from jumping on the professor. "What do you mean 'wrong'? What has happened to my sister?!" 

"As far as I can tell. . . Nothing. . . Or. . .the worst." 

Peter's eyes widened. "Deh- worst?!" 

"I am totally unable to detect Illyana's brain waves. That means she is either in a place that prevents my psychic waves from getting in, she has developed some sort of mental block that prevents my discovering her, she is not on the planet anymore, she is brain dead. . . or deceased." Xavier watched sorrowfully as Peter's facial expression turned to one of horror. "The one thing I can tell you for sure is Magneto does not have her." 

"Illyana. . ." Peter whispered. "NO! I refuse to believe it! I must find out what hez heppened to her! I will not lose her like I lost Mikhail! I can _do_ somethink- anythink!" He grabbed the professor's shoulders. "Please- I need to go bek home, to Russia, to find out what heppened!" 

"All right Peter, but Warren, Ororo, and some of the others will be coming with you. If something did happen to your sister I want you all to be prepared to face it," Xavier said slowly. "Warren, if you could kindly find Sam and Amara for me while I summon Ororo and discuss the situation with her and Peter?" 

Warren nodded and walked swiftly out of the room. Xavier, now helmet-less, put two fingers to one of his temples and called out, _Ororo, if you could join me in the Cerebro chamber it would be most appreciated._ Within minutes she had answered his call and was down in the Cerebro room. "Thank you for coming so promptly Storm," he said as she arrived. " I'm afraid that due to extreme circumstances you're going to have to take a very sudden trip to Russia." He explained the situation in detail. 

Ororo looked at Peter and smiled reassuringly at him. "Do not worry, we _will_ find out what happened to your sister. I promise." 

"Thank you Storm," Peter said quietly. His eyes were clouded with fear. "Eef anythink hez heppened to Illyana and I could hev prevented it. . ." 

_Charles,_ Ororo spoke to him mentally while still verbally reassuring Peter that everything was going to be okay, _what do you think about all of this?_

_I honestly don't know Ororo. From what I can tell the details of what happened to Illyana are sketchy at best. She may not be alive when you find her. **If** you find her._

_I understand Charles. Still it is our duty to help Peter and his family find closure- **any** closure,_ Ororo added in a mental whisper. 

Xavier nodded slightly. _I knew you would understand Ororo. That's why I asked for your help._

Warren poked his head in through the door. "Sir, I've got the others with me and Mr. McCoy offered to prep the jet for us, so we're ready to go when you are." 

"Then let us not delay a second more," Ororo said, placing a hand on Peter's shoulder. Xavier led the way to the Blackbird and within minutes they had boarded and were heading to Russia. With every passing minute Peter felt more and more dread about what he would discover when he got home. 

* 

Jubilee decided that most of the students at the Academy reminded her more of Mystique than any other mutant she had met. They acted conceited, muttered things behind her back, and appeared to be so wrapped up in their own egos that Jubilee could hardly understand how they had the time to do anything else. She felt especially uneasy around the girl that called herself Roulette and her boyfriend Manuel. "Is it just me, or does that guy grin too much?" She asked Jono quietly. 

Jono snickered a bit and replied, "_Manuel's a bit of a pisser, he liked being a bloody fool and creeping everyone out. His power is empathy, so he likes to play with your emotions if you're not paying attention._"__

__"Charming," Jubilee muttered. "What about his girlfriend? Is she some sort of vampire and feeds only on innocents?" She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. 

Jubilee could have sworn that if Jono had a mouth he would be grinning. "_Not quite **that** bad. Jennifer changes luck._" 

"So if you get on her bad side stay out of the casinos?" 

"_Funny you should say that. . . Her father owns a casino_." 

"Bet her never had a problem with anyone winning too much." 

"_HAH!_" Jono laughed, his fiery face expanding slightly. 

"_Fssstt!_" Hissed a voice. "SparkleMouthBoy make fur stand on end!" 

Jubilee turned to find herself face to face with a purple feline creature. She gasped at the suddenness of having two bright yellow eyes looking into hers and staggered back. "Yow!" 

"_I believe the appropriate phrase for the moment would actually be 'meow'. Jubilee, this is Catseye_. _Catseye, this is Jubilee,_" He indicated the cat-girl with a wave of his hand. "_She's a human with the ability to turn into a cat-_" 

Catseye snorted. "SparkleMouthBoy wrong again." 

He rolled his eyes and gave a mental sigh. "_Sorry. She's a **cat** that can turn into a human._" He added so that only Jubilee could hear, "_She's nuts. I'm not sure why Ms. Frost keeps her around. She was actually raised by cats and thinks she's one of them. She's sweet, but she's just a little off, you know?_" 

Jubilee suppressed the urge to burst out laughing. "Aren't we all?" she said to him. 

Catseye looked at her funny, since she had been unable to hear the rest of Jono's speech. "Allwrong?" she blinked. "YellowJacketGirl funny one." 

Jono chuckled at her. "_She is, isn't she?_" he said to Catseye. 

Jubilee glared at him. "Bite me SparkleMouthBoy," she said. 

Jono's expression turned to one of hurt. Jubilee looked taken aback, unsure of why he had reacted that way. Then she looked at the swirling mass of golden fire again and said, "Oh, I didn't mean it like that! I mean I _did _mean it like that but I _didn't_ mean to point out that you have no mouth. . ." 

As she continued stammering lame excuses and then finally gave up, throwing her arms into the air and saying, "Aw hell, if you can't take it as a joke or my apologizes for being an insensitive ass then it's true what they say and all you Brits have sticks up your behinds." 

"_Hah! You Americans think we're all a lot of ruddy stiffs but the truth is we just can't stand listening to you brag all the time. 'We beat you in the Revolution, we saved your behind in the World Wars. . .' I mean really, don't you people know when to sod off?_" 

"Hey, _you_ guys were the ones all like 'Hey, you're related to one of our people, you have to come fight for us' in 1812!" Jubilee countered. 

"_Yes, but that doesn't excuse the years of acting like a nation of children afterwards_," He said. 

"Children? Excuses me? Who's acting like the-" she blinked, then paused. "You're baiting me!" 

Jono's eyes glittered. "_Maybe just a little._" 

Jubilee glared at him. "You want me to prove your point? Okay then." She rolled up her sleeves and made a fist. "I can be childish. You and me, right now! I'm not afraid of you or your sparkle-mouth!" 

"_Right-O then, I've been wanting to give someone a good thrashing,_" He said balling up both of his hands and assuming a ready position. 

"Ah, crazy!" Catseye said, throwing in her assessment of the situation. 

The two of them stood there, glaring daggers at each other, until they both burst out laughing. Jono's telekinetic chest reacted to it by making small explosions every time he laughed. Catseye hissed and ran away from them on all fours which caused the two to laugh louder. After they had clamed down Jubilee shook her head and looked up at him. 

"I don't get it. How di people like you and her wind up schooling with people like Manuel and 'Roulette'? Or for that matter, going to a school run by a woman who's name is as cold as what I've see of her nature? She creeps me out." 

"_Aw, she's not so bad,_" Jono said, but it almost sounded as if he was being fed the lines. "_She's helped me adjust to my new situation and I really appreciate that._ _And she's been like a mother to Catseye_." 

"Humph! She strikes me more as the Evil Stepmother type." 

"_She comes across as a bit strict and cold, but seriously, she's a good headmistress,_" he protested. 

"All right, I'll just have to take your word for it, because I'm not sticking around to find out," Jubilee said. 

Jono's eyes widened. "_What? you're not going to stay?_" 

"Present company excluded I haven't been thrilled with the folks around here- although that guy Skin was kinda funny. . .in an annoying sort of way. . . And I just don't like Frost," she shrugged. "Besides, I have a lot of friends over at my other school that I want to return to." 

Jubilee could almost see Jono frowning. "_I don't think anyone's ever refused Miss. Frost. She's not a woman to take defeat lightly._" 

"Well, I'm sure she'll get over it," Jubilee said. "Listen, it was great meeting you-" she scribbled her e-mail address on a piece of paper, "- here's my contact information. Keep in touch that way or drop me a line," she tapped her temple. 

Jono still looked like he was frowning. "_You sure you aren't going to stay?_" 

Jubilee's brow knitted in confusion. "What does it matter? Hey, it doesn't have anything to do with you. I- I'm happy where I was and I really, really want to go back there. Sure my parents will mope about it, but they'll cave in. I just have to work on them." 

"_If you're sure then_," Jono said, mentally sighing. He held out his hand. "_I had a jolly good time. You made me laugh. Quite an accomplishment, since all of us Brits have sticks up our butts._" 

Jubilee shook his hand. "You're a fun Brit. Your stick must have broken." 

Jono laughed again, then led her back to Emma Frost's office. 

* 

As the fields of Russia raced below the Blackbird the dread that had gripped Peter Rasputin's heart since his mother said the words 'it is horrible' tripled with each passing minute. Warren eyed him nervously. If they didn't land soon Warren worried that Peter would jump out of the jet and take off for home on foot. 

Indeed, when the Rasputins' farm came into view below and Storm began bringing the jet around in a landing pattern, Peter unbuckled his restraints and stood up. The professor felt his anxiety building up to the breaking point and beyond as Peter saw two small figures come out of the farmhouse. 

"Warren, do you think you could carry someone of Peter's size down to the ground from here? It might take us a while before we find a suitable landing spot," the professor said, with a extra _Before he does something extreme_, that only Warren could hear. 

"As long as he stays in human form I should be able to manage it," Warren said. Peter gave a relieved sigh. They went into the back of the jet, shut the security doors, and then Storm popped open the cargo door using the frontal controls. 

"Try not to squirm," Warren advised Peter. He wrapped his arms around Peter's torso and jumped out of the jet. 

They dropped down sharply before Warren caught an air current that made their tenuous flight more stable. Warren strained to hold onto the larger teen. Their descent was still too fast. Warren struggled to get the upper hand. 

"Let me go comrade!" 

Warren looked down at Peter and shouted "Are you _insane_?" 

"Do it!" 

Warren shook his head, but then Peter whipped an elbow up into the soft part of his stomach. The air left Warren's lungs with a _whoosh_ and stunned him enough so that he dropped Peter. 

"No!" Warren gasped as Peter assumed steel form and began dropping to the ground as if he was made of lead. He flattened his wings to his back and dove towards the ground, but his speed was not nearly fast enough to catch the other teen. He heard a muffled _BOOM_ and saw a cloud of dirt rise where Peter would have hit. 

"Madman!" Warren cried out as he landed. A man and a woman were rushing over towards the crater. They were both shouting in what he could only assume was Russian. Warren was struck by a horrible thought. How could he explain to the professor _and_ Peter's parents that Peter had gone headfirst into the ground of his own accord? 

Peter's father jumped into the crater and both Warren and Peter's mother peered over the side. Warren's jaw fell a good three inches when his eyes revealed to him the result of Peter's mad dive. Peter was dusting off his metal form while being (as far as Warren could tell) lectured loudly but his father in rapid Russian. Peter made a some sort of reply and his father retorted, and smacked him on the back of the head. He then grabbed his hand in pain, laughing and moaning. Peter helped his father out of the crater. 

Peter's father addressed Warren and said something. 

"He is apologizing for my actions. He sez that I must hev given you twice az big a heart attack az I gave him," Peter said. 

"And what did he say down in the crater?" 

"He told me that I was crazy and asked meh whatever possessed me to try and make it to deh ground weethout a parachute. I told him I had a thick skull, so he smacked meh- then he had to agree that it was true," Peter said with a faint smile. He hugged his parents and began conversing with them. 

Warren frowned. Besides the occasional name that Warren recognized he was left in the dark as to what they were saying until Xavier landed the jet a few minutes later. The professor gave everyone a crash course in Russian psychically so they knew enough to follow along. The Rasputins took Xavier to where Illyana had last been seen and without warning Storm shuddered and backed away. 

"Ororo, what is it?" the professor asked. 

"I- I do not know Charles. Something- something has greatly disturbed the balance of nature in this spot." She closed her eyes. "I feel- I feel like the earth has been ripped open. . . " 

"I don't feel any disturbances," Amara said. "If something was wrong with the earth I would have felt it too." 

"Then something has disturbed nature here to say the least," Ororo amended. 

Sam immediately noticed Xavier's facial expression change. The professor flung an arm out and shouted "Scatter!" 

Storm had hardly opened her mouth to ask why when a huge hole opened in the air nearby her. A girl, who could not be older than eleven, tumbled out of the hole, a huge demon following on her heels. The girl screamed "PITOR!" as she saw Peter, and if there was any doubt in any of the X-men's minds who she was the simultaneous shouts of "ILLYANA!" by both her parents and Peter put them to rest. Ororo grabbed the girl and attempted to fly away with her but the demon's claws raked along her back and she screamed in pain and fell to earth. 

"Illyana! Storm!" Peter shouted, running at the demon and tackling it spectacularly. Amara immediately flared up and Sam began blasting towards the fray. The frantic Illyana, who looked disheveled to begin with looked even worse as she tried to crawl out from under Ororo's limp form away from the pursuing demon. 

Xavier reached for the girl's mind to tell her what to do but she was scared, confused and panicked all ready and reacted violently to hearing a voice inside her head. Xavier withdrew but not without gleaning some confusing information from the girl's mind. 

Warren grabbed a pitchfork that was lying on the ground discarded and whooped "Try some of you own medicine!" He flew over the creature and threw the pitchfork at it. It lodged in the demon's shoulders and this, combined with the blows being delivered by Illyana's enraged older brother and Sam and Amara throwing themselves into the battle caused the demon to step back. 

"YOU- WILL- NOT- TOUCH- MY- SISTER!" Peter bellowed, punctuating each word with a punch that was stronger than its predecessor. 

A voice cut through the battle and the demon suddenly ceased hostilities and retreated through the hole it had arrived in. Then, moments later, a red-skinned, horned man and a purple brute of a demon hulk made their way through the hole. Ororo stirred and stood up, and Sam and Amara helped her over towards Xavier. Warren made a move to pull Peter away but Peter grabbed his sister first and yanked her back. The man looked at Ororo and spoke to her in a tongue that was more hisses and whispers than actual words. Upon seeing the bemused expression on her face the man spoke again. "You are not the same woman," he said simply. "That will make this much easier." 

Peter stepped in front of his sister. "Who are you?!" 

The purple brute snarled. "Hold your tongue, boy! You are talking to the ruler of Limbo, the Lord Belasco!" 

The man shot a disapproving glare at the purple demon. "Quiet. I will deal with this on my own." He looked at Warren for a moment, examining his wings, and then shook his head. "You are of no consequence either, Angel. The girl is mine," he said to Peter. "Give her to me." 

"Never!" Peter shouted in defiance. 

"Very well," he responded lightly. He spit out three words in quick succession. They were more like rasping noises than actual words, but following them a storm of fire raged up around Colossus. 

Illyana screamed and wrenched away from Warren, who was trying to hold her back. A sword manifested in her hands and she lunged at Belasco. The big purple demon intercepted her, but she slashed his hand with her weapon and he dropped her, howling. Belasco, looking more and more irate by the second shouted more words and a small army on miniature demons swarmed out of the warp hole he had entered by. They swarmed the X-Men as Belasco grabbed Illyana himself. She swiped at him with the sword but he nimbly evaded it and struck her on the back of the head. Her whole body went limp and he dropped her. The purple demon picked the girl up and headed back towards the hole. 

Colossus desperately tried to beat his way through the demons before the large purple demon got back through the hole. "Illyana!" he cried. 

Storm rose into the air, lightning flashing around her. "Be gone wretched demons!" as she shrieked this, lightning crashed down to earth, frying demons left and right. 

Belasco took one look at her and laughed. "Save your strength Wind-Rider." He gestured towards the purple demon, who had all ready entered the portal. "It's over." 

Storm shouted and threw a lightning bolt at him, but he simply laughed and came away from it unscathed. He chuckled as he entered he portal muttering about different realities. As he stepped inside the army of demons dissipated. Colossus charged the portal. He was unsuccessful- the portal closed before he was able to get to it. He crashed into the dirt face-first and Warren rushed over to help him up. 

"Illyana!" Peter moaned. "No!" he shoved Warren away. "Illyana-!" 

"Peter-" the professor said slowly. "I know this is hard for you, but your sister is no longer in this world. That's why I couldn't sense her using Cerebro before, as I can't sense her now." 

Peter stood up and gripped the handles on Xavier's wheelchair. "How do we get to the other world?!" 

"We can't. I suspect that Illyana's powers have manifested- and resulted in some sort of inter dimensional teleportation. She's trapped beyond our reach," the Professor said quietly. 

Peter roared in anger and picked Xavier up by the collar. "Don't tell meh that! We have all these powers and you're telling me we're goink to sit here and let my sister die?!" 

"Peter!" Ororo cried, "Put him down! WE will not be abandoning your sister! You know we will do all in our power to bring her back- but I do not feel that rift anymore. Before I could. It's gone now." 

Peter let go of the professor and looked at his horrified parents that had watched everything from a safe distance. "What am I to tell them professor? That we failed?" 

"No, that we will try everything in our power to get her back. And we will Peter. You know that," The professor looked at him seriously. 

"Yes. Yes, I do." Peter mumbled. He began going towards his parents, and Amara and Sam exchanged looks and went after him. Warren trailed behind them. Xavier paused a moment, closing his eyes. 

"What is it Charles?" Ororo asked, sensing his unease. 

"It's- I can't understand-" He paused, collected his thoughts, and began again. "According to Peter his sister has been missing for several days, but in the brief period of time I was in contact mentally with Illyana I picked up on the thought that she had not seen home in a least a month and a half." 

"That makes no sense." 

"Exactly my point," Xavier said seriously. "Whatever world she is in, time appears to pass at a different rate than in our world. If we _do_ see Illyana again- who knows what age she will be. I'm not sure if I should tell Peter and his parents this or not." 

"Perhaps not. If Illyana does come back and she is not the girl they remember who says that won't hurt them more than losing her?" Ororo said quietly, looking at the three Rasputins embracing. 

"You're probably right," Charles said, heaving a sigh. "I just wish I could do something more for them." 

Ororo patted him on the back and helped him wheel his chair over to the distraught Rasputin family. He offered his condolences and his promises to never stop trying to find a way to help Illyana. They tearfully thanked him. They invited Xavier, Ororo and the rest of the students inside for lunch, and after that the X-Men boarded the Blackbird and began the long, silent flight back to the states. 

* 

Jono had long gone, and with him so did any sense of security Jubilee had. She was alone in Emma Frost's immaculate office. Alone, with the exception of the Ice Queen herself. Jubilee's hands twitched in her lap and wrung a corner of her yellow jacket. 

"Your parents and I had a lovely chat," Emma said to her as she gently fingered the rim of a crystal glass filled with wine. "They want you to start here as soon as possible, given, of course, your consent," she seemed to roll the last two words across her tongue as if it was sour. "I suppose Jonothan gave you the full tour?" 

"Yes, but-" 

"And the facilities were adequate?" 

"Yes, however-" 

"And the other students were to your liking?" 

"Most of them, still-" 

"Then," Frost said with a smile, "you must be ready to join us." 

Jubilee, irked by the Headmistress' severe lack of ability to care about what she thought, snapped. "No! I don't want to 'join you'! I want to go back to Xavier's!" she protested. 

Emma didn't seem too phased by the response. She sipped her wine delicately and looked at the girl with her piercing blue eyes. "Is that so? Are you sure?" 

"YES!" Jubilee said in a flurry of passion. "Positive! I have _friends_ at Xavier's. . . some of the people here are way too creepy! Jono's cool and Catseye, and even that Proudstar kid for the all of three seconds I saw him- but the others give me the chills!" 

_And so do I, don't I?_

Jubilee froze. Frost's voice had been clear as crystal to her but Frost hadn't opened her mouth.__She remembered suddenly what Jono had said when she mentioned that Xavier was a telepath. "_Ah. Well, then, you should get along fine here._" He hadn't been talking about himself! he had been talking about Frost! 

_It took you long enough to put two and two together. I suppose Xavier doesn't teach much common sense at his little school now does he?_ Frost said to her. 

_Xavier's a hundred times better than you! _Jubilee thought back at her violently. _And I'm going back there! I wouldn't stay here if you paid me!_

A grin spread across Frost's features. _Who said you had a choice?_

Jubilee went pale. "W- w- what are you talking about?" she stammered out loud, totally caught off guard. 

_I'm a telepath my dear._

Jubilee was going to say something more when she felt he mind being bombarded with thoughts and feelings that weren't really hers. She screamed silently and then passed out on the floor. Ms. Frost stood up and pushed a buzzer on her desk. "Jonothan? Could you please come here and help Miss. Lee? It appears that she has had a dizzy spell and fainted." 

Jono entered the rooms slowly in an almost zombie-like manner. He looked at Jubilee's limp form and a strange expression crossed his face. Frost rounded on him as he hesitated. 

"Mr. Starsmore," she said flatly and firmly. Jono shuddered and picked up Jubilee and led her out of the room. 

"Another lovely catch Ms. Frost," said the boy called Manuel or Empath. "Do you suppose Xavier and his little group of misfits will come looking for her though?" 

"Not for a while," Frost said, sipping her drink once more. "But eventually they will. And we will be ready for them." She smiled and laughed briefly. "They won't stand a chance." 

* 

Logan was drinking a cup of coffee and glancing at the paper in the kitchen. Over on the windowsill sat Kitty, lightly plunking away at her laptop keys. They tended to have 'breakfast' together like this nowadays. Charles and Ororo and the rest of the folks that went to Russia were due back any time, and Wolverine was waiting to hear the sounds of the jet landing when all of a sudden the alarms went off. "RRRaaag!" he shouted, plunging a finger in each ear. "What the hell?!" 

Kitty nearly phased through the windowsill. "Is someone, like, trying to break in?" she gasped. 

"I- don't- know-" Logan grunted. The two made their way to Xavier's office and looked at the surveillance cameras. 

Outside a young woman with flowing blonde hair and a full suit of armor was making a mockery of the laser guns that were supposed to deter intruders. She used a sword to deflect the lasers back upon the originating guns, effectively destroying them. Wolverine grunted. "Crap! What the hell is she, some sort of Jedi?" he grumbled. "This is ridiculous!" 

Another warning began flashing on the screen, telling them that the professor and the others had returned. "I'll, like, find the professor and tell him what's up!" Kitty said, phasing down into the lower levels of the mansion. Wolverine nodded at where she had been. 

"Smart thinkin' half pint," he growled. Popping both sets of claws he began charging towards the front lawn. "I'll be the welcoming committee for Jedi girl." 

He got outside just as the girl destroyed the last gun turret. He growled at her. She held her sword at the ready and glared at him with cold determination. Like a bull he charged her, and she straightened up and bellowed. 

A pentagon appeared in midair and suddenly a demon stepped out from a blazing portal. It swatted Wolverine like a bug and he went flying back into a statue. "UGH!" he grunted. He shook his head and looked up. The girl stood over him, demon no where to be seen, but she was pressing her sword to his throat. 

"Where is Pitor Rasputin?" she said flatly. "I'm only going to ask you once." 

Wolverine snarled and lunged at her despite the sword. She was stunned by this action, seeing as now her weapon impaled his windpipe but he didn't seem all too concerned. She staggered backwards as he pulled the sword from his throat. He leapt at her and pinned her to the ground, eyes flashing with fury and pressed his claws to either side of her head. She gasped out another word and he felt himself being tugged off by his demon friend. The demon pinned him down and snarled in his face. Wolverine tried to slash at it, but his arms weren't at the right angles to get any leverage. The girl scrambled for her sword, recovered it and looked down at Wolverine. "You're a mutant." 

Wolverine, unable to speak because his vocal chords hadn't healed properly yet gave her a look that read 'tell me something I don't know'. Suddenly there were shouts from across the lawn. 

"Mr. Logan!" Kitty cried. "Don't hurt him!" she nailed the girl with a flying tackle. Ororo gasped as she saw the large demon. 

"Not again!" Warren moaned. 

Peter, who had been very subdued for the past few hours, flared up. "I will deh-stroy it!" he shouted, swiftly transforming. 

"_WAIT!_" Xavier shouted mentally and verbally. "Kitty, unhand that girl! Peter, hold off on the attack!" 

"But professor!" they both began to argue. 

"Just listen to me!" 

Kitty reluctantly got off of the blonde. She stood, dusted herself off, and waved. The demon disappeared. She turned and saw Xavier and her expression changed. "You-! I saw you six years ago in Russia. When I tried to escape." she looked him over. "You don't seem to have changed all that much- where's my bother?! He was with you that day!" 

"Please, Illyana, slow down," the professor said. 

The whole crowd of X-Men did a double take. Peter said, "Illyana?! No, it cannot be!" and walked over to her slowly. "But- we just saw you a few hours ago- you were taken away from us by demons!" 

"Hours?" Illyana blinked. "You mean years! I was in Limbo for six years after that day!" 

Ororo looked at Xavier. "Hours for us, but six years for her!" she shook her head. "What an ordeal!" 

Illyana picked up on what Ororo was saying. "Wait- how long have I been missing here?" 

"Three days at most," Xavier said to her. 

Illyana looked thunderstruck. "_Three days?! _That's _it?!_" she looked towards her brother, who nodded. "I- I can't believe it. . ." 

"It's going to take some getting used to, for you and your family," Xavier told her gently. 

"Are you kidding me?! It's going to be insane! First I have to tell my parents that I'm a mutant and then explain to them that I'm sixteen. . . when the legally I'm still ten!" Illyana said. "I can't _believe_ this!" 

She would have gone on, but suddenly Peter took her up in a big bear hug, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Everythink is goink to beh all right Illyana. You're okay and that's what matters. Even momma and papa will know this is true." 

Illyana relaxed and hugged her brother back. Charles looked at the both of them and murmured, "Well, I suppose we have to set up another bedroom and make a phone call to the Rasputins. this is going to be hard to explain." 

"That's why I'm glad you make all the phone calls Chuck," Logan rasped in an extra horse voice. 

Charles sighed. "Nothing can ever be simple when one lives with a bunch of mutants." He felt a light buzzing in the back of his head and looked about in confusion. "Funny. . ." he muttered as the buzz went away. "That felt familiar. . ." 

* 

Jubilee waved good-bye to her parents from the front steps of the Academy. She was flanked by Jono and Ms. Frost, who were also waving. As Jubilee's parents sped out of sight Frost squeezed her shoulder and smiled. "You'll feel right at home here in no time at all," she said. 

Jubilee smiled back. "I'm sure!" she said enthusiastically. For a moment she looked puzzled. Ms. Frost closed her eyes for a second, then Jubilee's face cleared. 

"Why don't you and Mr. Starsmore go a few rounds in the training room. I doubt your parents allowed you to practice with your powers in the house." 

Jubilee nodded and grabbed Jono's arm. "Come on!" she said. Jono allowed himself to be pulled along and Frost looked out over the horizon to see the rising sun. 

"You just wait Charles Xavier. The Hellfire Club has plans for you and your X-Men. Plans," she said, glancing briefly at the retreating teenagers, "that will rip your students out from under you." 

She turned on one heel and went back into the school, two guards closing the doors behind her. 

_The End_

Author's note: I hope I did a Russian accent justice. As you can see this has more foreshadowing ^_^!! You're just going to have to wait to see what develops there. I've got a few ideas for the next episode, which might be a two part-er. If it is expect a lot of action! 

A special shout out to those of you who are sticking with the story and reviewing every chapter. Another shout out to those of you who have discovered this story and started reviewing each chapter. And if there is anyone out there reading this story faithfully but not reviewing a shout out to you too- and an order- REVIEW!!! PLEASE!!. 


	5. Episode 5: Wild Card, Part One

Author's note: I have edited a few things I thought didn't flow well. This has changed the ending a bit. FYI, the uniforms Logan gives them are the ones they can be seen wearing at the end of Season four (in those flashes of the future).__

__

_Wild Card: Part One_

__

__The traditional Xavier Institute Holiday party was in full swing. The students and teachers were all exchanging gifts. Jean and Scott were quietly talking in a corner after having given out all of their gifts quickly. Unlike the year before Kurt had left the mistletoe where Beast had put it up. He was joking and laughing with Bobby, Amanda (whose parents allowed her to come reluctantly) and a few of the other younger students. Beast was giving Peter football tips in one corner, while Ororo looked nervously out the window in another. Kitty was talking to Lance on the phone; apparently they were releasing him from the hospital soon and Kitty was arranging to see him during her holiday time off from the Institute. Warren was arranging to see his _parents_ some time over vacation, debating with them without end over his cell phone. Logan and the professor sat together smiling at each other knowingly. Logan was one of the few people who hadn't given out gifts yet, but everyone assumed he didn't have any. After a few more minutes he got up and disappeared. Remy was debating with Sam over whether straight Southern cooking was as good as Cajun cooking, but he kept glancing over towards another southern mutant that was sitting in the room. 

Xavier had given each of his students a book in the genera they liked the most, and in one of the larger chairs Rogue was curled up, reading hers. It was Garth Nix's _Lirael_, his sequel to the book _Sabriel_. Ironically, Rogue had picked up the taste for Nix's works from Wanda when she had absorbed the Scarlet Witch's powers for Apocalypse. Rogue had long since decided that if anything, Wanda had a good taste in books. She had hardly looked up for the past ten minutes, she was so engrossed. 

Wolverine returned not long after he left, toting a sack. He flopped it in the middle of the living room and cleared his throat. This made even Rogue look up. 

"As a special sort of present," he grunted, "I've gotten you each something I think you'll appreciate." He handed out the boxes to the students one by one, warning each of them not to open it until everyone had theirs. Everyone obeyed, seeing as disobeying would land them a danger room session in the wee hours in the morning and they didn't want that. 

Finally as he handed the last package to Scott he nodded and everyone tore into the presents. 

There were several simultaneous gasps of surprise. Jean was the first one to speak. "Logan! New uniforms! You shouldn't have!" 

"They're more personalized," Logan grunted, "and more functional than the others. Hank's been workin' on some 'unstable molecule cloth thingy'. The uniforms will repair rips on their own, and they're ten times tougher than the other stuff." He grinned. "Which means I can make your trainin' sessions that much harder without worryin' about the laundry." 

There was a collective groan from his audience, replaced quickly by little squeals of delight from the various students. The younger students had uniforms that were very much the same as the old ones, but with small 'Xs' over their heart that doubled as a communicator. Illyana was presented with her very first uniform, and she inspected it carefully, unsure of what to make of it. The older students looked over their uniforms, which were very much so altered from their current ones, being made of black cloth instead of navy, and featuring a more stylized look to them. Rogue noticed how Jean and Kitty's new uniform consisted of a belly shirt and pants, while her uniform had a much longer shirt. She mentally rolled her eyes. Having that much skin exposed could only be a bad idea on her anyway. . . 

As she took out the main part of the uniform she noticed that there was a green jacket with a hood folded up neatly underneath it. on top of it lay a scrawled not that read _I didn't want you to feel left out kid, so I picked this up to give your outfit more flair. There's a new pair of gloves in here too- your old ones were looking kinda worn out._

__Rogue smiled gently as she lifted the coat out. It was actually pretty odd looking, a bit heavier than the uniform. As she looked it over she noticed that there was something in one of the pockets. It was a small box, wrapped in shiny red paper, and topped off with a delicate gold ribbon. Rogue looked around quickly and noticed that none of the other girls were opening small boxes. Confused, she slipped the ribbon off, tore the paper and opened the box. 

Inside was a small silver chain with two miniature playing cards dangling from it. Rogue looked at the cards and noted that there were words scrawled across the back. One read "_Un rat de marais_" in elaborate script. Rogue had learned that phrase was French for 'A swamp rat', and in matching script on the other card it read "_Et sa reine des coeurs_"- 'and his Queen of Hearts'. 

When she flipped over she noticed that the Swamp Rat card was the 'joker' and the other card was a mini queen of hearts. If there was any doubt in her mind who the necklace was from this realization clenched it. 

She looked up and scanned the room again, looking for Remy, but a voice by her shoulder made her jump and saved her the trouble. 

"You like it _cherie_?" Remy murmured into her ear. "I even did de right t'ing an' paid for it, instead of nickin' it. Was temptin' too, but Remy know how much you don' like him doin' dat." 

Rogue's fingers twisted around the chain nervously. "It- it's beautiful," she whispered. "Th- thank you." she fumbled with something and then held it out to him. "It- it ain't much. . . but Ah kinda picked up on one or two things ya needed last time Ah was in yah head." 

He took the simple black box from her and slipped it open with a deft movement. He grinned slightly when he opened it. It was a black leather wallet with a simple silver 'R' stitched into one corner. "I guess you picked up dat I didn' have one of my own-" 

"Since you 'nicked' everyone else's instead," Rogue finished for him. "Yeah," she said. "Ah- Ah hope you like it." 

"It's perfect _cherie_." Her twirled a strand of her white hair between his fingers and leaned towards her. 

Rogue jerked away. "Remy- don't," she said quietly, her voice aching. 

"Rogue it's okay-" he began, but Kurt suddenly appeared before them. 

"Hey! Dhere you are!" he said merrily to the two of them. "Here," he passed them both presents, "I've been trying to get a chance to give these to you all night!" 

Rogue smiled at him brightly and thanked him, opening the flat package. It was the Evanescence CD that she had been planning on buying for some time but with all that had been happening she had never gotten around to. "Kurt, you didn't have to-" she protested. Kurt waved it off. 

"It vas my pleasure," he said. Remy opened his present. It too was a CD. 

"Damn!" he said with a low whistle. "A double CD of Duke Ellington's music!" He looked up at Kurt. "T'anks _mon ami_. I haven't heard any decent Jazz since I come up from N'awlins." 

"I'm glad you like it," Kurt said in genuine relief. "I really vas at a loss as to vhat to buy you. I vasn't sure what you'd like." 

"It's perfect," Remy assured him with a smile and a pat on the back. Kurt beamed at him. When he had teleported away Remy looked back down at Rogue. He smiled at her and kissed the top of her hair. "We talk later _cherie_." 

"Right," she mumbled as he walked away. 

Ororo approached her, a frown forming on her face. "Are you quite all right Rogue?" 

"Ah'm fine Ororo. Ah'm jus' thinkin' 'bout how quiet it's gonna be here tomorrow, aftah everyone goes home. Ah mean last time Scott was hangin' around. Now he's goin' with Alex t' visit his adoptive family in Hawaii," Rogue sighed. 

"Cheer up," Ororo said, squeezing her shoulder. "I believe Tabitha plans on staying here too." 

Across the room Kitty paused in her conversation. "Hang on Lance, I have another call. Hello? Hey Rahne!" She looked up and called out, "Rahne says 'Happy Holidays'!" 

Kitty held out the phone and everyone chorused "HAPPY HOLIDAYS RAHNE!" so loud that the house shook a little. Kitty giggled, put the phone back to her ear and said, "How are you? That's good. Yeah, she's here, hang on a minute." Kitty pushed through the crowd to find Tabitha and hand her the phone. "Just don't hang up when you're finished. Lance is on the other line." 

"Hey wolf girl!" Tabitha said merrily into the phone. "What's up?" Her smile broadened and her eyes widened. "Reaaaaaally?! Awesome! Let me ask!" She put one hand over the mouthpiece and shouted, "Hey professor! Rahne says that her mom's inviting me to Scotland for the holidays, since she knows I'm not going home. Can I go?" 

The professor nodded. "Of course." He paused. "Tell Moira I send my regards." 

"All right!!" She pumped an arm in the air. She relayed the professor's message, said a few more words, then told Rahne she'd call her back after seeing Kitty's impatient face. 

"So, that leaves me," Rogue sighed heavily. 

Ororo sighed with her and pat her on the back. "What about your biological-" 

"Ah don't know who they are," Rogue cut her off. "Closest thing Ah got to a family is all y'all. . . and Irene." 

"I'm glad you see us as a family," Ororo said. 

"Yah th' only one Ah got. At least now yah are. Irene helped Mystique play with mah head. . . Ah can't forgive her f'r that," Rogue muttered. Ororo glanced out the window again. Rogue picked up on the action and said, "Y'all are worried 'bout Evan ain't ya?" 

"He's just too young- and in _so_ _many ways_, too immature- to be out on his own. Especially in a world that hates him," She shook her head. "Vi is going to be so disappointed if he didn't get my message." 

"Message?" 

"They want him to come home for the holidays." Ororo ran a hand through her hair. "It was the hardest thing I had to do, tell them that he was living underground with the Morlocks." 

"Ah bet they aren't having much of a holiday," Rogue mumbled. 

"What?" Ororo looked at her, confused. 

"Well when ya think 'bout it, they have to rummage around to get food. . .and we've all heard from Ms. Leech what happened when Evan tried to go shopping. . . So they're probably having a miserable Christmas. Th' Morlocks, that is. Ah doubt anyone's sending them presents." 

Ororo's eyes lit up. "Rogue, that's a wonderful idea!" 

Now Rogue looked confused. "What? Huh? What did Ah say?" 

"No wonder why Evan hasn't responded! He cares about the Morlocks! He wouldn't want to go home to be with his family and open gifts and have dinner when he knows the others aren't!" 

Rogue gave her an oblivious look. 

Ororo patted her on the back. "We'll bring Christmas to them! Hank will help me, and I'll get Logan to stick around for it too. I bet the Morlocks will be surprised!" 

Rogue blinked slowly as Ororo walked away. She wasn't quite sure how she had gotten the older mutant to go off on that tangent, but she was pretty sure that Ororo was happier now than when she had begun to talk to Rogue. She shrugged and went back to her reading. 

"Aren't the new uniforms great Scott?" Jen said, excitedly picking at hers. "They look much better than the old outfits." She added in a low tone, "I always thought that Kurt's outfit made him look like some sort of circus performer." 

"Behold, zee Incredible Nightcrawler, star of zee circus!" Scott said in a horrible German accent that was more French than anything else. Jean laughed a little. 

"So, everyone here has to bundle up when they go home, but you, mister," she tweaked his nose, "get to pack shorts and a swimsuit. Life is not fair," she rolled her eyes. 

He put on a very serious face. "I promise I won't have any fun whatsoever." 

Jean looked at him very seriously as well and said, "I should expect not." Then they both cracked up. 

"You'll say 'hello' to your Mom and dad for me right? And give them my gifts?" Scott asked her. 

"Of course, but it's easy to see you're trying to butter them up," she teased him. 

"Hey, I've got Magneto and the brotherhood, Mystique, whatever is left of the Acolytes, my college education, and a bunch of mutant haters to worry about. I don't need my girlfriend's parents wishing me ill," Scott retorted. 

Jean laughed and kissed him on the cheek. Scott wrapped his arms around her and they chatted occasionally, perfectly content to stay like that for the entire night. 

"You guys are impossible!" Warren burst out, throwing his wings and the one arm that wasn't connected to the hand holding the cell phone into the air. One of his wings clipped Jamie, who stumbled to the ground, turning into several more Jamies on his way down and a few more when he actually landed. This multiplied the sweater he had been holding. All the Jamies looked at it, shrugged, and put it on. Then they reformed into one. "Can't you skip that meeting? I mean I want to see you, not Jeffrey! Why in God's name would I want to spend Christmas eve with the butler?!" He fell into an angry silence and then snapped, "FINE! See if I care! It's not like I haven't spent almost every Christmas alone anyway!" He started to hang up but there were protests from the other end. "I'm sick and tired of your excuses!" He slapped the phone shut. 

"Are you all right comrade?" Peter asked. 

"I'm _fine_," Warren grumbled. "My parents always pull this kind of crap on me. I hope I've given them enough of a guilt trip to get a visit." 

Peter gave him an odd look. "Whatever you say, comrade." Peter would have struck up a conversation to get Warren's mind off of it, but Illyana pulled him aside and began discussing their flight plans to get back home. 

"Hey Rogue!" Kitty said, approaching the Goth with a smile on her face. She gave her roommate a hug and showed off her uniform. "Check it out- my arm bands have little computers in them!" 

Rogue looked up from her book again and smiled. "Well, better you than me. Ah'd probably do something wrong an' blow up mah arms." She snickered. "In th' middle o' th' danger room are we gonna have to tell ya to stop e-mailin' people?" 

Kitty laughed. "Maybe. Depends on if Wolverine is teaching or not." 

Rogue laughed as well then sighed. "It's gonna be awfully quiet 'round here tomorrow night." 

"Oh, wow, yeah," Kitty said. "Everyone's going home to be with family, aren't they?" 

'Or," Rogue muttered, "bein' invited elsewhere." She glanced over towards Tabitha. Kitty looked sheepish for a second. Rogue blinked at her then said quickly, "Ah didn't mean it t' sound like Ah was angry at you guys. It don' bothah me that much. Ah'd just be an intruder in someone else's home anyway. An' Ah'd prob'ly ruin th' whole thing by accidentally absorbin' Grandma or Grandpa or somethang." 

"Rogue. . ." Kitty said, rolling her eyes. 

"You know it's true," Rogue grumbled. She twisted the chain of the necklace Remy had given her around one finger. 

"Hey- who's that from?" Kitty asked, nudging Rogue. Rogue mumbled something incoherently, but Kitty understood anyway. "He's such a sweetheart Rogue. He's really good for you. . . If he doesn't spoil you, that is." 

Rogue snorted. "Ah need t' have a long talk with that boy," she mumbled. "He keeps on tryin' t' do things we both know are bad f'r his health." 

"Like lure you under the mistletoe?" 

"Not yet, but close enough," Rogue muttered. 

"Rogue, like, how can you blame him? He's totally head over heels for you!" 

Rogue turned slightly pink around the edges. "Yeah, well he's gonna be in th' infirmary if he don' stop- because of mah powahs or mah fists." 

Kitty rolled her eyes. 

The party lingered on until just around midnight. It might have gone on longer if everyone wasn't planning on traveling the next day. Everyone gave each other last minute thanks and hugs, and there were many "Happy holidays" said. Finally everyone walked to their respective rooms toting gifts, and in some cases (like Kurt) covered in ribbons and wrapping paper. Beast took out the trash while Storm and Wolverine did the dishes and Xavier did a last check up on the mansion security. After that was finished, they too went to bed. 

Rogue sat up with a small book light, reading for awhile longer. Kitty was fast asleep by the time the book finally slipped from her roommates fingers. Rogue heard the light clatter and what sounded like the batteries falling out and mentally groaned, but she didn't have the effort left in her to reach down and pick it up. 

She was unsure how long it had been when she heard the door open a crack. She was sleeping on her side so she opened one eye and saw alight creeping across the floor. Expecting it to be Kitty, returning from a late night snack run Rogue ignored it and closed her eyes again. She nearly jumped ten feet into the air when she felt a hand on her shoulder. 

"Rogue?" 

It was him. 

Rogue sat up immediately and shot a glance over towards Kitty's bed, which was empty. Then she looked back up at Remy and whispered, "What are you doin' hea so late?" 

He sat down on the edge of the bed and smiled at her. Rogue raised an eyebrow at the look he was giving her, and shifted backwards slightly. She opened her mouth to speak but Remy grabbed hold of one of her bare wrists and pulled her close, kissing her deeply. Rogue made a muffled squeak of surprise and tried to pull away, but her efforts were more or less wasted. She finally twisted away from him after several seconds and gasped, "Are you insane?!" 

"_Oui_," he murmured smiling. Her ran a finger down the side of her cheek. 

Then the realization of what had just happened hit Rogue. They were touching, but he didn't appear worse for wear, and she didn't feel any buzzing in her mind, or any new memories. "Ah don'- what in th'- how?!" She asked of him. Remy just smiled at her again and pulled her closer for another kiss. She found her arms winding around his neck, her hands tangling in his cinnamon hair. His hands moved upon her body, but when they reached the hem of her shirt Rogue pulled away. 

"Remy- We can't- what about Kitty?" 

"Don't worry Rogue. It's taken care of," he whispered into her ear. "Trust me." 

Nervously and reluctantly Rogue nodded. Remy gently tugged the pajama top over her head and began kissing her neck and her collarbone. Rogue moaned as he slowly pushed her down on the bed and managed to slip his shirt off so that they lay together, skin to skin. The sensation made Rogue's whole body feel like it was on fire. She reached up between them and fumbled with his belt. After a few minutes she finally pulled it off with trembling fingers. 

He was kissing her more and more fiercely, working his way down from her neck to her breasts and she groaned as he did so. She wasn't sure how it happened but suddenly they were both free of their clothing. His lips found hers again, and she gasped as he tried to push into her- 

"Rogue? Hey, are you okay?" 

Rogue's eyes snapped open violently to see Kitty standing over her, looking concerned. Rogue was suddenly very glad the lights were still off because she could feel her cheeks burning. "Uh, yeah, Ah'm fine. Why?" she asked quickly. 

"You were moaning in your sleep," Kitty replied, brows furrowed. "I thought you were having another nightmare. 

_Not quite_, Rogue thought to herself. "Ah don' remember," Rogue shrugged sullenly. 

Seeing the expression on Rogue's face, Kitty bit her lip gently. "Are you sure you're, like, okay?" 

"Ah'm _fine_." Rogue rolled over and buried her face in the pillow. "I'm jus' sleepy." She curled up, pulling the covers up over her chin. 

"All right. . . I'm heading down to the kitchen. Do you want me to bring a drink up for you?" Kitty asked. 

"No. . . Thanks anyway. Ah'll probably be asleep before you get back." 

Kitty bent over and picked up Rogue's light and book. She put them on rogue's night table. "All right. I'll talk to you in the morning then." She phased through the floor and down towards the kitchen. 

Rogue breathed into her pillow and shed a few silent tears before she drifted back to sleep. 

* 

Breakfast the next morning was a rushed affair, as most people were catching early flights or trains or busses home. Scott had apparently gotten up early and gone out to get a large sack of bagels, butter, and creme cheese for everyone. There was juice as well and some fruit, everyone pretty much grabbed a piece and left. 

"Come on Logan," Ororo said merrily. She was dressed elegantly, as usual, and she had her pocketbook slung over one shoulder. "We've got a busy day ahead of us!" 

Logan shook his head. "How'd I get roped into this? Couldn't Hank or Chuck go with you?" 

"You're the only one who was free," Ororo informed him. "Hank is going to fly Tabitha to Scotland, and the professor was debating about going along-" 

The phone rang urgently and Beast picked it up, "Xavier Institute, Mr. McCoy speaking." His smile broadened. "Doctor McTaggert! I'm glad you called. We were going to head out your way around- what? Yes, he's here." Beast put a hand over the bottom of the receiver and said in a puzzled tone "Professor? Dr. McTaggert says she needs to talk to you." 

The Professor wheeled over and took the phone. "Hello Moira. It's good to hear from you." His facial expression changed drastically. "What? You do-? He did-? Moira, you must be very, very careful. When I last saw him he was in no condition to be interacting with others. . . Yes, yes, of course I'll come. He's my son after all. Are you sure your psychic inhibitors are working? Make sure you keep them on full power. Thank you Moira. And thank Sean for me as well. I'll see you before one." The professor hung up the phone. "I'm going to have to go to Scotland after all. Apparently David- or Lucas- stumbled upon Muir Isle. He was trying to release one of their more volatile patients. Another mutual acquaintance of ours- a mutant by the name of Sean Cassidy- happened to be there on a visit and he used his powers to knock the boy out." He looked at Hank and nodded at him. "I might be able to right the wrong that I did to the boy. I have to come with you." 

Logan rolled his eyes. "So much for dumpin' this on Chuck," he grumbled to himself. "All right 'Ro, let's get this over with." 

They said good-bye to everyone and headed out, Logan looking like he was heading into a battle he was sure he could not win. Rogue felt like snickering. It was hard to imagine the Wolverine having fun while picking out gifts for a bunch of kids. Especially ones he couldn't just get uniforms for. 

Slowly people began leaving as their rides to the airport and such started coming. Rogue gave everyone big hugs, but frowned as she noticed that Remy didn't seem to be about. Had he snuck out when she wasn't looking? She sighed. 

"Hey, why so glum Rogue?" Kitty said as she hugged her roomie. "You're going to have loads of fun! I mean you're, like, going to have the room to yourself- practically the whole mansion to yourself when you think about it." Behind her, her ride was waiting patiently. 

"Whoopee," Rogue rolled her eyes. "Yeah, it's goin' t' be so entertainin' with me and th' adults." 

A light smile played across Kitty's features for a second, but then she sighed, frowning. "Yeah. Well, next time maybe you can come celebrate Hanukah with me, all right?" 

"Yeah, whatevah," Rogue said, giving Kitty a suspicious look. "Run along now. Yah driver looks antsy." 

Kitty hefted her duffle bag over her shoulder and walked over to the waiting van. She threw her bag in the back with a few others and got in the passenger side. She waved to Rogue as she van pulled away and Rogue waved back until the car pulled out of sight. 

"H- hey Rogue?" Rogue turned to see a fairly nervous Kurt holding an envelope between two of his fingers. He thrust it towards her. "I- I vanted to know- if you could mail this for me." 

"Why?" Rogue asked, taking the letter away from him. It wasn't sealed, so she began to open it, but Kurt suddenly snatched it back. 

"It's- uh- vell, a Christmas card." 

"A. . . Christmas card?" Rogue said raising an eyebrow. 

"For. . .mother." 

Rogue went immediately to defensive mode. "Kurt are you _insane_? That dream addled yah brain! Mystique is _not _someone deservin' of a Christmas card. Plus why the hell would Ah know where t' send a card f'r Mystique anyway?" 

"I vas hoping you could send it to Ms. Adler. . . And she might be able to forward it to mother," Kurt explained quietly. 

"I- Irene?" Rogue stammered. "Ah. . . Ah've cut ties with her. . ." 

"Please, Rogue?" Kurt begged her. 

Rogue closed her eyes. "All right. Fine." She took the card from him again, this time more gently. "Still, Ah don' understand _why_ on god's green earth you would try to reach out to _that woman_. . ." 

"Who on god's green earth needs someone to reach out to her more dhan mother?" 

Rogue sighed and shook her head. "Whatever. Ah'll deliver the letter Kurt- Ah promise," she added as she saw his skeptical look. 

"All right," Kurt said, giving Rogue a hug. "You have a happy holiday, all right?" 

"All right," Rogue echoed, patting Kurt on the back. "Now hurry along, othahwise th' van t' th' airport will leave without you." 

Kurt nodded at her, cast a meaningful glance at the Christmas card, and then rushed over to the van. Along with Kurt, Amara, Bobby, and Sam were packed in the van as it drove away 

The number of students continued dwindling until only she and Tabitha were left. At that point the professor wheeled over towards her. "Rogue, I'm going to have to ask you a favor. While we're out you're going to have to be in charge of the house." 

Rogue nodded. "That's cool. Ah figgered as much, since Ah'm th' only one who's around." 

"For the moment, yes," the professor added. "Hopefully our stay in Scotland won't be too long. Even if it is, Logan and Ororo will be back before dinner." Rogue nodded at the professor and wished him good luck. After they had also left Rogue made her way to her room, her footsteps echoing in the empty house. 

Rogue sat at her desk and looked at the crisp, white envelope. She slowly began writing out Irene's address but instead of putting Irene's name on the front she wrote 'Please forward to Raven Darkholm', then she paused. Rogue slowly opened a draw and pulled out some of her leftover Christmas cards. Quickly she scrawled a message to Irene on one of them, placed in inside another envelope, and wrote out Irene's address neatly. She paused again, got up, and began to walk to her door. Then she stopped, turned around and went back to her desk. She gently extracted Kurt's card from it's envelope and looked at it. It was simply decorated with a lion and a lamb sleeping in a manger and a snow filled background. Inside, in Kurt's scrawl, was written _Merry Christmas Mother, Love Kurt._ On an impulse Rogue grabbed a pen and added _and Rogue_. 

"Ah'm so gonna regret this," she mumbled to herself as she headed towards the mailbox. 

* 

"Charles," Moira McTaggert's said with evident relief as the professor descended from the Blackbird. "I'm glad ye could come. Yer son is this way," she said gesturing towards a large building. "We been having a bit o' trouble keeping him in line. He's pushing the inhibitors to their max." 

Beast sighed deeply. "You had to have a son with a bit of your own power, didn't you Professor?" 

Charles twined his fingers together. "Last time we met the Lucas personality tricked me into banishing the others. I intend to fix that this time. Then I'll begin to train the boy in his powers in order to prevent this from happ-" 

"Rahne!" 

"Tabitha!" 

The two younger mutants ran to each other and embraced. The adults couldn't help but smile at their obvious joy. 

"Ye made it! I'm so glad!" Rahne bubbled. "It's great to see ye!" 

"Great to see you too Wolfy!" Tabitha exclaimed, ruffling Rahne's hair. She hefted a large, flamboyantly colored duffle bag over one shoulder. "So, where are the good looking Irish guys?" 

Rahne laughed. "How aboot we get ye a room first, aye?" 

"If you insist," Tabitha said, winking. "_Then_ you can show me the Irish meat you've got hidden around here." 

"Aye. I'll introduce you to Sean daughter as well," Rahne said, leading the way. 

"Well, at least that get the lasses oot o' our way," said a hearty Irish voice with a bit of laughter in it. "Guid to see you again Charley." 

Professor Xavier smiled at the light haired man. "Hank, this is Sean Cassidy, known as Banshee. Sean, Henry McCoy, the Beast." 

Sean and Hank shared a friendly handshake."I've heard much aboot your research from Moira. Sounds impressive, even if I don't understand as much as the guid doctor does." 

Beast chuckled. "Well, it's good to know I have friends." 

Xavier sighed. "I would be delighted if we could sit around and chat, but I think it is pressing that I see David." 

"I agree with ye, there's plenty o' time to catch up later," Moira said. She came up behind Charles and began wheeling his chair over toward the special holding facility. 

"I wish we could be meeting again under less distressing circumstances Moira," Xavier said, keeping his eyes fixed on the building ahead of him. 

"Aye Charles, boot fate seems to have other ideas for us," Moira replied in a deadpan tone. 

They entered the building and walked down a corridor with names written above the few doors. Charles noted the names with interest. One door simply had "Proteus" written in bold red letters. Charles felt Moira's mind twinge sadly as they passed that particular door, but he said nothing. Finally they came upon another door with a single name upon it. "'Legion'?" Xavier asked. 

"The lad was calling himself that. He would nae answer to 'David' and we didn't think it would help matter if we called him Lucas," Moira nodded sagely. "We thought it best to try and break through this multiple personality thing by making him seem to still be one person." 

"A wise insight." 

Moira waited for a few minutes for Sean and Beast to catch up, then pressed a security coed into the door and had her hand scanned. The door slid open sluggishly. Inside there was a clear room within the large room in which Legion was secured. He was wearing an outfit much like that of a mental patient, except he also had a special silver headpiece on. The outer room was littered with machines, dials, lights and all sorts of regulation equipment. 

"Oh, lovely, a visit from me father," Lucas spat. "Are ye here to take me home, so we can be a big, happy family?" 

"Not in this state David." 

"My name is Lucas," he retorted stubbornly. 

Xavier huffed. "You may insist on that all you like, but I am going to call you David." 

"And ye can kiss my ass," Lucas snapped. "Why don't ye take this bloody tiara off o' me an we can solve this like mutants?" 

"I think not," Charles replied. 

Lucas laughed out loud. "Well ye aren't quite as stupid as I took ye for. Or perhaps ye learned yer lesson last time, aye?" 

The professor's expression turned dark. Lucas smirked. 

"Go home old man," he said bluntly. "Ye aren't welcome here." He tilted his head to make his point and walked to the farthest corner of the clear inner room. 

"David, please listen to reason." 

Lucas ignored him. 

Moira put a hand on the professors shoulder. "I dinnae think this is the time Charles. The lad's not ready to cooperate." 

For the first time in all the years he had know the professor Beast saw the man's usually calm countenance break. 

"You don't understand Moira! This is my fault. I banished the good part of David into oblivion-" He began breathlessly. 

"Ye had a long flight Charles" Sean interrupted. "Yuid be better off having a guid night's sleep and trying this again tomorrow." 

"Rogue's home alone-" Charles said to Beast in a feeble attempt to get someone on his side. 

"Rogue's a good girl, and a smart one too. She can take care of herself. Logan and Ororo will be home soon enough anyway," Beast said. "I'll call her and tell her we're going to stay a few days. Besides, rushing this might do more damage to the boy." 

Charles' face darkened and he bent over slightly. "You're right. Moira- is the old guest room-" 

"Still set up with some o' yuir things. Seaside view. The same as ye left it last time ye visited," Moira smiled at him. 

The professor sighed. "I'm just very tired. So many things have been happening lately. . . I'm worried. Very worried. About what will happen to mutants. My students. . . My son. . . My friends. . ." 

"You need some rest Charles. Think of this as a well deserved vacation," Beast said, patting him on the back. He wheeled the chair out of the room. Sean followed closely. Moira made sure everything was locked up and took one last look at her patient. Lucas was sitting, his head bowed. Moira sighed and closed the door. What Moira couldn't see was the grin on Lucas' face. 

* 

"What about this?" Ororo asked, holding up a rag doll. 

Logan, who had his eyes closed under his hat, opened one slightly and grunted at it. "The porcupine won't like it." 

Ororo threw up her arms and bopped him over the head with the doll, knocking off his hat. "Logan, you're not paying attention at all! We're not buying presents for just _Evan_. We're buying presents for _all_ the Morlocks." 

Logan grumbled and bent over to pick up his hat. "The sewer water will ruin anything they get." 

"They have dry spots," Ororo retorted. She scowled at him as her straightened back up. 

"'Ro, darlin' you're going about this all wrong." Logan plopped his hat back onto his head. "Those kids don' need toys so much as they do good food, some blankets, and a decent place to sleep." Wrinkling his nose, he added as an afterthought, "and a shower. . ." 

"All right then," Ororo placed the doll in her cart, and poked a finger into his chest. "Then you can get them the essentials. I'll get them other things that you think are frivolous." 

"I didn't say that 'Ro. . ." 

"You meant it." 

Logan shrugged. "The kids don't _need_ that stuff." 

"But they _need_ something _fun_ to do," Ororo pointed out. "You of all people should know that." 

Logan grunted. "Fine. I'll go get them what I think they're gonna need. You get them the fun stuff." 

Ororo looked at her watch. "How about we meet at the burger place around the corner for lunch around noontime?" 

"Sounds good to me darlin'," he nodded. He gave her a funny look. "You never struck me as a burger kind of gal." 

"You never struck me as a person who would believe in meditation." 

"Touché," Logan smirked. They parted quietly, and began collecting things that they thought the Morlocks would need. 

* 

Tabitha looked around her room and smiled. "Not bad. Not bad at all. Mystique's was better," she winked at Rahne, "but this'll do nicely." She plopped her bag down on her beg, opened it, took out her clothes and threw them all into a drawer. "There! I'm all finished unpacking. Why don't you show me around this hunk of rock?" 

"Aye, all right," Rahne agreed. "We can't go everywhere, though. A lot of the places are restricted access. Especially the building the professor was going in." 

Tabitha raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Is that so?" 

"Aye. That's where the really dangerous mutants are locked up." 

"Like Xavier's son," Tabitha nodded. "Hey, is he as hott as he sounds? Because when Jean was describing him- _damn_!" 

"Well the dangerous part of him is," Rahne admitted with a blush and a sheepish look. "But we're nae allowed anywhere near the building for damn guid reasons." 

"Oh, right," Tabitha rolled her eyes. "How dangerous could it be if he's locked up?" 

"He's a psychic. He can do dangerous things without being close to you," Rahne warned her. 

"Yeah, but not if they have one of those psychic inducers on him." Tabitha's eyes glittered "Come on, let's just go sneak one little look at him." 

"Nae," Rahne shook her head again. "Mum made me swear nae t' go near him." 

Tabitha sighed. "All right, fine." She settled down on the bed. _She didn't make me swear though. . ._ Tabitha thought, and she began planning what she was going to do later that night. _This should be a hell of a lot of fun. . ._

* 

It had been little over an hour since Beast had called the mansion to explain that he and the professor would be delayed. Rogue was cleaning her room, or her half at least, since she hadn't done so in a while. Somewhere between the training sessions, the homework, saving the world, and other day to day business cleaning the room had somehow been forgotten. 

Since there was no one else at home, Rogue was wearing her green spaghetti strap shirt with some black sweat pants made out of a light fabric. She had a rag in one hand and a spray bottle in the other, and was wiping off the windows when she saw someone standing in the doorway reflected in a clean panel. She yelped, whirled around and brandished the squirt bottle like a gun. When she focused on the figure her face went red. 

"Jumpy, aren't we _cherie_?" Remy said, smirking. "I was only admiring the view." He added in an undertone, "You're always so bundled up. . ." 

"Ya scared me half t' death!" Rogue shouted, throwing the rag at him. "What th' fuck are you _doing_ hea?! Didn't you go home like th' rest o' them?!" 

"Home? Dis is home as far as I'm concerned. Jean-Luc can call himself my father 'till he's blue in de face and I won't give a damn. De guild is not my home anymore," Remy shook his head. "I wasn't around dis mornin' because Gambit hate dose long, sappy good-byes when you know you gonna see each other again." 

Rogue snorted at him. "Some pal you are," she grumbled. "Won't even say good-bye to your friends?" 

"I left Kurt and Peter and de others notes," he shrugged. "You were sticking around, so I didn't leave _you_ one." 

Rogue grunted incoherently. Remy held out the rag to her and she snatched it back. "Why didn't ya tell me that ya were stickin' 'round?" 

Remy looked amused. "I was goin' to tell you later at de party but you avoided me de whole rest o' de night. However, I _did_ ask Kitty to tell you I was gonna be here. . ." 

Rogue remembered the way Kitty had acted that morning and snorted, "Oh it must have just _slipped_ her mind." She turned back to the window. Remy came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She jumped. "Are you nuts? I'm practically a walkin' deathtrap!" Rogue tried to twist out of his grasp. 

"Easy _cherie_," Remy murmured. "You may be a bit _uncovered_ but I'm all wrapped up _for _you." Gloved fingers ran down her neck and picked up the chain of the necklace he had given her the night before. "I'm glad you like it Rogue." 

"How could Ah not?" Rogue asked, easing up a bit. "It's wonderful." 

"You're wonderful," he whispered in her ear. "How could I get you anything less?" Rogue tensed up as she felt him shift closer. 

"Remy, please, let me go." 

"Rogue, please, let me in," Remy countered. 

Rogue jumped again, recalling her dream from the night before. "W- wh- what?" 

Remy turned her around so that she could look up at him. He held her by the shoulders. "You're always so scared and nervous around everyone. You always try to push people away, because you don't want to hurt dem. What I t'ink you don' realize is- sometimes you hurt people more by pushin' so hard." 

Rogue shivered, unable to look away from his burning eyes. "Ah- Ah told you before we started goin' out; Ah'm nevah gonna be able to t' touch-" 

"Damnit Rogue, dat's not what dis is about!" Remy said, looking disappointed. He pulled her closer to him, using a bit of force since she was struggling. "Physical is only a part of de big picture!" He grabbed her face. "I want to get in here. I want you to be able to trust me. I want you to tell me things, I want you to be able to feel at ease when you're around me!" 

Rogue pulled away from him sharply and reflexively slapped him across the face. He let go of her, a hollow look in his eyes. She shivered, and took a halting step back. "Ah- Ah- Remy- you just- Ah- NO!" She grabbed her head and squeezed her eyes shut. Tears leaked out. "Just- just no. . ." She whispered. "Ah- Ah can't. If Ah. . . If Ah'm not on my guard. . . You. . .you weren't hea. . .when Ah. . .attacked everyone. . ." 

Remy's eyes clouded with confusion. He opened his mouth to speak, but Rogue shook her head, and gave him such a look that his heart leapt into his throat. 

"This was a mistake," she said. 

"No Rogue, don' say dat-" he said hoarsely. He reached for her but she danced just out of reach. 

"Remy- just get th' hell out of mah life!" She suddenly shouted, shoving him out of the way and storming out of her room, shoulders shaking with suppressed tears. 

"Rogue!" Remy shouted, but she was gone. "Goddamn boy, you always puttin' yo' foot in yo' mouth, _non_?" He scolded himself. 

* 

The mansion gates were secured by a special thumb print lock, the only really safe kind for the mansion residents (especially with the enemies they had), short of having a DNA testing system. Normally it was a sleek, refined machine. Now, the face plate was removed and some of the wires had been cut. 

"Got it," a dark figure hissed. He placed two wires together and the gate swung open. Another figure patted the first on the back. 

"Good job. Marius! Hey, Julien! We're in!" 

Julien smirked. "All right," he turned around and looked at the small group of Rippers with him. "You t'ree- go 'round de left. You, de right. We'll take care o' de front." 

The small band split up quickly. With the skill of young men who had been trained since birth to move like shadows, they slipped around the mansion. It was around dusk, and rapidly getting darker. 

"Great t'ing- you findin' out dat de house was empty 'cept for her," Julien muttered to his contact. "Dat bitch is gonna pay." He rooted around in a bag he was wearing on his side. He pulled out a fairly thin, silver collar-like trinket. "Once we get dis on her, it's all over." 

Rogue made her way down the stairs in a rapid succession. Remy hadn't begun to follow her. She wasn't sure how she felt about that, but she decided no to think about that. Indeed, she was so focused on getting outside and getting a head-clearing breath of fresh air that she forgot what little clothing she had on. For a winter evening, she was inadequately dressed. Rogue realized it after she was halfway to the gate. 

"Shi-" she began. She was cut off by a gloved hand clamping down over her mouth. 

"Julien! Julien! We got her!" one of the Rippers shouted. All of the other Rippers rushed over in a mob. 

"Hold her!" Julien ordered. One of the Rippers fell to Rogue's powers before Julien clamped the silver band around her neck. Rogue shuddered, and twisted out of her captor's hold, only to be seized by others. 

"Get the hell away from me!" Rogue shouted. She twisted so that one of her bare arms touched Julien's bare skin. 

Julien smirked. Rogue's eyes widened. "Nice try," he said. "We were prepared." 

Rogue twisted around and screamed "REMY!" as loudly as she could. 

One of the other Rippers cracked a heavy object over her head and she went limp. Julien grabbed his contact. "I t'ought she was alone?! Is LeBeau in dat house or not?" 

"I dunno Julien! He wasn't dere earlier-!" gasped the contact. 

Julien threw him back, and he slammed into the ground. "Get de girl to de car! Go!" Julien pulled his contact up and pushed him in the direction of the car. "You-" he pointed to one of the other Rippers. "Make sure you fix de keypad on de gate. We don't want anyone else t' know we're here." He nodded and then the rest of the Rippers hauled Rogue as quickly as they could over to a waiting van. Julien looked up and saw movement in the house. "Well, well," he said, recognizing the run. "It is you ain't it LeBeau?" He smirked. "I was ready for you." He pulled a card out of his side bag. It was the joker, Gambit's signature card. Julien ripped the card in half and threw it down on the spot where Rogue had been captured. "See you in n'awlins, LeBeau." 

* 

"REMY!" 

The scream plunged into his heart like a cold blade and Remy took off down the hall at breakneck speeds. He heard the screeching of tires as he got to the top of the steps. He shouted "Rogue!" and bolted out the door, only to see an empty lawn. He looked around in a panic, and then spotted something fluttering across the lawn in the wind. He practically pounced on it. As Remy held up the two ripped pieces of card his eyes flashed with fire. 

"Julien," he snarled. 

Remy immediately did some quick calculating. He didn't know how Julien had gotten there, presumably by plane, but how secured, Remy couldn't be sure. To get to New Orleans fast enough he would have to fly. Still, Xavier and Beast had taken the Blackbird. . . That left the heli-jet. Remy went inside quickly closing the door behind him, in case Julien had left someone to try to come after him. He'd been trained to hear a door opening form far away. Remy scurried to the elevator that took him to the hangar and practically broke down the doors when the elevator stopped. He charged out ran to the heli-jet, and jumped in. 

"Buttons and dials, buttons and dials," he muttered, looking at the control panel. "Crap, where's de damn users guide?!" 

He'd flown one or two simulations with Kurt, and finally found the ignition. After a rather awkward takeoff, Remy then programmed the coordinates of the Thieves Guild into the computer and set the heli-jet on autopilot. 

"I'm comin' Rogue." 

* 

A few hours later it was pouring and Ororo opened the door to the mansion. Logan was behind her, carrying several large bags. 

"Hello!" Ororo called. "We're back!" 

Silence greeted her. Since it was raining she and Logan decided to unload the car, then look around. Ororo made her way to Xavier's office, then down to the hangar. Logan looked on the fridge, and checked the answering machine. 

"No notes, no messages," he grunted. 

Ororo frowned. "The blackbird and the heli-jet are gone." 

Logan raised an eyebrow. "The heli-jet too?" 

Ororo nodded. "Maybe- something happened. It's possible that Xavier needed Rogue and Gambit's support in dealing with his son." 

Logan sniffed the air. "Mmm. . . I don't know. The were both in here, 'bout an hour ago. Rogue- she smells mad, nervous. . . Gumbo smells scared. Terrified." 

Ororo bit her lip. "We should look for them then. See if they're on the grounds." 

Logan nodded, then grumbled, "Problem is, with all this rain their scents have been washed away for a while." 

"Well we'll just have to look the old fashioned way." 

"I hate bein' old fashioned," Logan mumbled. With a sigh and a roll of her crystal blue eyes Ororo eased the weather as best the could. Then they both went out into the storm to look for the two wayward southerners. 

* 

Tabitha waited until she was sure everyone else was asleep, then she slipped out of bed. She was all ready fully clothed and ready to go. Deciding she didn't want to disturb Rahne, Xavier or Beat, who were all sleeping in the same hallway, Tabitha slid open her window and climbed out. Since it was a first story room, there would be no trouble getting back in later. 

"Now I have a date with a Scottish psychic-" 

"What in th' blazes?!" 

Tabitha whirled around to see Rahne staring at her. 

"Aw crap," Tabitha groaned. "What are you doing out here?" 

Rahne pointed up, where the moon was shining- bright and full. "It always makes me a tad uneasy," she said. "Yuir trying t' sneak a peek at Legion aren't ye?" she accused. 

Tabitha shook her head. "What? Me? Never! I swear, it's just the full moon. Brings out the animal in me," she said with a sparkle in her eyes. Rahne didn't look convinced. "Oh come on! You only live once, right? One little peek isn't going to hurt us!" 

Rahne hesitated. 

* 

Over in Legion's cell the metal 'tiara' that had been keeping the psychic in check now lay on the ground. His straight jacket, which had held his hands in place, was now strewn across the floor. He grinned wildly. "All right," he said slowly. He let out an exaggerated sigh. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to have one peek. So long as you don't tell anyone, 'specially me mum." 

* 

"All right," Rahne said slowly. She sighed quietly. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to have one peek. So long as you don't tell anyone, 'specially me mum." She started down the footpath to the high security building. "Follow me!" 

"Yeah! Way to go Wolfy!" Tabitha cheered. She followed with a bounce in her step. "So you know how to get in and everything?"  
"I know how tae get past the main security and get intae the holding cell part o' the room. Basically, I dinnae know how tae open the door to let the subjects out," she rolled her eyes. "Mum says it'd be 'a security risk." 

"Well, we don't need to get into the cell anyway," Tabitha shrugged. "We're only taking a quick look and then heading back to the room, all right?" 

"Aye," Rahne nodded. 

The two girls snuck into the building without a problem- after all, everyone else was asleep. Rahne opened the door, after hesitantly punching in the code onto the keypad. They entered the area where Legion was begin held and Tabitha peered in. Legion was there, looking up at them with a smirk. 

"He _is_ good looking," Tabitha said, a sparkle in her eyes. "Too bad he's a 'bad guy'." She turned to Rahne, ready to crack a joke, but stopped when she saw how stiff Rahne looked. "Hey Wolfy? You all right?" When Rahne didn't respond Tabitha waved her hand in front of the other girl's eyes. "Yoo-hoo! Earth to Wolfy! This is not the time to go all store-window-mannequin on me." 

"Open the door," Rahne said in a flat tone, echoed by Legion's voice. Tabitha took a step back. 

"Whoa now-!" Tabitha exclaimed. "What the heck is going on?" 

"Open the door-" Legion insisted. "You have the ability to. If you don't-" Rahne, looking almost comatose, let out a pained whimper, "- I make is so that the girl has to be fed through a tube for the rest of her life." 

Tabitha paused for a moment, looked at Legion and grinned. "Hey, it's not like _I'm_ the one who has a problem with you." She rubbed her hands together and blew on them, creating three small glowing orbs. These she wedged in between the door and the door frame. "Watch your head," she advised, stepping back. She tugged back Rahne. Legion scoffed and took a step back. 

The crack between door and frame abruptly widened, smoke poured out, and there was a muffled '_boom_'. Alarms began going off. Rahne fell to the floor in a heap and Legion grinned at Tabitha. 

"Thanks for the assist," he smirked. He began to walk past her but she grabbed his arm. He immediately looked up and glared at her. "Do you _want_ me to fry your mind?" 

"I'm going with you," Tabitha said, her eyes flashing with fire. "I busted you out after all. You owe me." 

"Why do you want to come with me?" He asked, incredulous and suspicious all at once. 

"Let's just say I'm always up for some action," Tabitha ran a finger under his chin. "Now come on you crazy Scot- they're going to be here any second!" She took off down a corridor. 

"The exit is the other way!" Legion snapped irritably. 

Tabitha turned on one heel. "Exactly! Don't you think they'll check that way? There's got to be a window or something we can bust open this way." She put her hands on her hips and frowned at him. "You want to get out of her or what pretty-boy?" 

_I'm not sure what her game is- but I can always beat her at it later_, Legion thought. He started running after her. 

* 

The alarms also sounded in the house where Moira, Sean, Xavier and Beast were staying. The few resident of the house were in a state of panic. Most of them were only partially dressed. Sean bolted down the hallway in deep green boxers and ran straight into Moira in her nightgown. 

"It's him," they said simultaneously. 

"I checked the network- the psychic dampeners aren't functioning. He must have gotten free o' 'em somehow," Moira said breathlessly. 

"I looked a' the cameras, there was explosion by his cell," Sean began. 

"Explosion?!" Xavier said with great concern as Beast wheeled him over. 

Beast and Xavier looked at each other in horror. "Tabitha!" 

"An' Rahne!" Moira said. "Tabitha would nae 'ave known where he was being held." She grabbed a hat and jacket. "We've got ta 'urry Charles- the girls could still be in grave danger." 

Sean and Beast ran ahead as Moira helped Charles get ut of the building. They entered the building cautiously. "Oh my stars and garters!" Beast exclaimed, kneeling when he saw Rahne. He picked up her small, limp form. 

Banshee had entered the cell and saw the empty jacket and the discarded tiara. He picked up the former and hurled it into the nearest wall where it shattered. Beast, on the other hand looked at the door. He touched the framed with one hand, cradling Rahne with the other. "These are the sort of burn marks Tabitha's power leaves. She must have broken open the door." 

"Why in the seven hells would the girl do tha'?" Sean asked half in anger, half in frustration. "Didn't she know how dangerous 'e was?" 

Rahne groaned, and Beast looked at her, worried. "That may be _why_ Tabitha helped him," he said thoughtfully. "By the looks of it, he might have been free of the dampeners before the girls got here. I highly doubt that either of the girls would let him out for their own purposes." 

Moira and Charles rushed in to see the situation. Charles hung his head in shame and hid his face away. "I should have seen this coming. Now Tabitha and the rest of Scotland could be in danger, and it's my fault." 

"Ye blame yerself fer too much Charles. If ye had been 'ere, what could ye 'ave done? The boy dinnae want ta listens ta ye or anybody else," Moira tried comforting him. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it away. 

"The fact of the matter is that I've failed the boy too many times," Charles sighed. "Now I have to redeem myself." He turned to look at Hank. "Beast, prepare the Blackbird. We have to try and follow him." 

Beast nodded and gently passed off Rahne to Banshee. Rahne's eyes fluttered open and she mumbled, "Tabitha- don't let him out," and then they shut again. 

Banshee frowned. "Are ye sure tha' Tabitha would nae have let him out on her own?" 

Charles shot Banshee a frigid glare. "Tabitha, despite a troubled past, is an exceptional student in her own right. I have no doubt that either she, Rahne, or both girls were in immediate danger for her to have acted in such a way." 

Banshee opened his mouth to say more, but Moira put a hand on his arm and he sullenly fell quiet. "We'll come with ye Charles. You'll need all the help you can get, aye?" 

The professor nodded absentmindedly, watching Beast leave. He didn't have to read Sean's mind to know that he still had doubts about Tabitha's motives. Still, Charles tried to convince himself, Tabitha had never done anything that would cause more harm than a practical joke. . . 

. . .What if that had changed? 

Neither the professor, nor Moira and Sean spoke as their eyes collectively watched Beast disappear around a corner. 

* 

"Every damn time I come home t' N'awlins it's jus' gotta be 'cause someone's been kidnapped, is dat it?" Gambit murmured as he stepped out of the heli-jet. He had set in down in land that was clearly the territory of the Thieves' Guild and not the Rippers, and he made a mark on the ground using rocks that signaled the other thieves in the area that this was a friendly craft. "De professor would be jus' t'rilled t' find out I lost de jet," he murmured. "De other t'ieves- dey better keep deir paws offa it." 

With that final grumble he began the long tromp through the Louisiana swampland. 

* 

Rogue's head throbbed with pain. She opened her eyes, but found she saw more when she had them shut. The room was pitch black, her vision was blurry, and she couldn't hear anyone around. She was gagged, bound to a chair, and that. . . Collar-thing they had put on her was still there. The room was dank, and chilly, and she shivered. She was still in a tight tank top. Suddenly there was a outpouring of light from somewhere behind her. She tried to twist around to see but couldn't. She didn't really need too, however. Julien Bordeaux, heir apparent to the head of the Rippers family, strode in front of her. His face was a cross between smug and furious. 

"Well, looks like we finally meet again," he said with pure malice. "So nice t' know joo wanted to visit." 

Rogue tried to say something that sounded an awful lot like 'Bite me!' through the gag, but couldn't. 

"Do you know why you're here?" 

Rogue gave him an exasperated stare. 

Julien responded by grabbing her shoulders and hissing, "My father was in de house, unconscious because joo an' your damn mutie powers, when your freak family brought part of it down." 

_Good for them!_ Rogue thought. Her eyes must have showed her defiance, because Julien raised a hand as if to strike her, then paused. Regaining his composure he spoke again. 

"He went into a coma 'cause o' you an' LeBeau. I fully intend t' pay joo back fo' it a t'ousandfould," He snapped. 

_Remy doesn't know what happened to me. No one does,_ Rouge thought fearfully. _No one's going to be coming to rescue me._

Julien saw the expression on Rogue's face and smirked. "LeBeau knows you'rer here. I left him a present. He'll be around any minute. He's quite de predictable person when it comes t' people he cares about." 

Rogue felt a great surge of fear and guilt well up in her. If Remy didn't come, then she was most certainly going to be on the receiving end of Julien's wrath. If he _did_ come then he would be walking straight into a trap set for him. Julien's grin widened as her eyes betrayed her feelings. 

"Joo won't be able t' help dat boy none. By de time he sees joo, he'll be in too deep to dig himself out." Someone else entered the room at that point. Rogue couldn't see who because he was behind her, but the look of Julien's face made her heart leap into her throat. 

"He's here," the unseen fellow said, voicing what Rogue all ready knew. 

"No one interferes wit' his gettin' hea- at least not really," Julien ordered. "A token resistance, no more. Once he comes fo' de girl we'll have him in our net." He looked down at Rogue and stroked her cheek, just to make her furious, which he succeeded in doing. "We'll see who's de better o' de two o' us dis time." 

He left her in the dark room. Rogue struggled against her bonds, but only succeeded in flipping the chair backwards and landing with a crash on the floor. She blacked out for a few seconds, and when she awoke she thought for a minute that the chair might have splintered upon impact- then she realized it was metal. 

_F'r ya sake Remy, ah hope ya didn't follow me. Or if ya did Ah hope you brought the Calvary. . ._

_*_

__"I don't understand why you chose to help me," Legion said, eying Tabitha. "I don't trust you." 

Tabitha shrugged. "I like to shake things up a little," she explained casually. She walked over to the edge of the cliff they were standing on and looked down. "Woooo! Long drop!" She made a fist sized firecracker and threw it over the edge. Much to her disappointment it popped only halfway down, nowhere near the rocks at the bottom. She grunted, the turned around and walked up to Legion. She traced the line of his jaw with her finger. "You need to chill out kiddo. Even if I was going to try and do something you'd fry my brain pronto, right?" 

"Undoubtedly," Legion said in a warning tone. 

Tabitha smiled and tweaked his nose, at which Legion looked scandalized. "So cool your jets! I'd have to be some sort of idiot to try and get you mad. So, what's the plane now?" 

Legion frowned, then took the spot Tabitha had vacated off of the cliff. "The plan?" He turned to look at her. "First we get a boat and get off of this godforsaken island and away from that man who'd like to call himself my father. After that we'll see." He eyes her suspiciously, but her expression was unreadable to him. She simply looked excited. 

"So, let's get a boat!" Tabitha said vehemently. "I've always wanted to see Scotland!" 

Legion found himself actually being dragged along which was, to say the least, a new experience for him. 

* 

A few hours after he and Ororo had begun searching the grounds, Logan paced around the rec. room with the TV on an outrageously loud setting. Ororo peeked her head around the corner and saw him there walking back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. She sighed, and it caught his attention. He stopped. 

"There's been nuthin' on the news 'Ro. No note, no phone call. I'm gonna _kill_ Chuck for not leaving us a number!" He vented. 

"It's going to be all right Logan," Ororo assured him. "I'm sure the professor would have contacted us using the Cerebro unit in the Blackbird if anything was wrong. 

"But what if he couldn't 'Ro?" 

"Why are you so worried Logan?" 

Logan frowned deeply. I couldn't smell nuthin' outside, right? Inside I picked up on the Cajun's scent- and he was terrified." He gestured at the window. "We checked all over the grounds, and all we got f'r it was muddy shoes and wet clothes! An' I'm pretty damn sure I can smell Rogue _goin' out_, but not _comin' back in_," he folded his arms. "I don't think Chuck or Beast has been in this house since they left this morning! Something bad musta happened and I can't tell what." 

Ororo looked at him, concerned. If what he was saying was correct, then indeed something was very wrong. "If it makes you feel any better we could travel to Scotland and find Muir isle-" 

"I'm not so sure it's gonna be Chuck who needs our help the most," Logan murmured. "But if we find him, he may be able to find some answers." 

Ororo nodded with a frown. "All right. Then let's go find him." 

They went down to the hangar, and revved up the mini-jet's engines. Logan took the controls. Ororo used her powers to clear the skies. As the mini-jet took off, Logan grumbled, "I hope Gumbo and Rogue are with him, otherwise we're heading away from the people who need us most." 

Ororo silently agreed with him. 

_To Be Continued. . ._

Author's note: I really didn't want to post this until I had some of part 2 typed up, but I know it's been an awfully long time since I updated. You'll have to forgive me, I had a death in my muse family. I have to find a replacement muse. I hope you enjoy! 


	6. Episode 6: Wild Card, Part Two

**Disclaimer: Don't own the characters. Wish I did. X-Men are the children of Marvel. I make nota red cent off of this.** 

__

_Wild Card, Part 2_

Previously, on X-Men: 

-_"Hey wolf girl!" Tabitha said merrily into the phone. "Hey professor! Rahne says that her mom's inviting me to Scotland for the holidays, since she knows I'm not going home. Can I go?"_

_The professor nodded. "Of course." He paused. "Tell Moira I send my regards."_

_-"I'm going to have to go to Scotland after all. Apparently David- or Lucas- stumbled upon Muir Isle. He was trying to release one of their more volatile patients. Another mutual acquaintance of ours- a mutant by the name of Sean Cassidy- happened to be there on a visit and he used his powers to knock the boy out." He looked at Hank and nodded at him. "I might be able to right the wrong that I did to the boy. I have to come with you."_

-_"Why don't ye take this bloody tiara off o' me an we can solve this like mutants?"_

_"I think not," Charles replied._

_Lucas laughed out loud. "Well ye aren't quite as stupid as I took ye for. Or perhaps ye learned yer lesson last time, aye?"_

_The professor's expression turned dark. Lucas smirked._

_"Go home old man," he said bluntly. "Ye aren't welcome here." _

-_"Get the hell away from me!" Rogue shouted. She twisted so that one of her bare arms touched Julien's bare skin._

_Julien smirked. Rogue's eyes widened. "Nice try," he said. "We were prepared."_

_Rogue twisted around and screamed "REMY!" as loudly as she could._

-_Ororo nodded. "Maybe- something happened. It's possible that Xavier needed Rogue and Gambit's support in dealing with his son."_

_Logan sniffed the air. "Mmm. . . I don't know. The were both in here, 'bout an hour ago. Rogue- she smells mad, nervous. . . Gumbo smells scared. Terrified."_

_Ororo bit her lip. "We should look for them then. See if they're on the grounds."_

_Logan nodded, then grumbled, "Problem is, with all this rain their scents have been washed away for a while."_

_"Well we'll just have to look the old fashioned way."_

_"I hate bein' old fashioned," Logan mumbled._

-_"Every damn time I come home t' N'awlins it's jus' gotta be 'cause someone's been kidnapped, is dat it?" Gambit murmured as he stepped out of the heli-jet._

-_"LeBeau knows you're here. I left him a present. He'll be around any minute. He's quite de predictable person when it comes t' people he cares about. Joo won't be able t' help dat boy none. By de time he sees joo, he'll be in too deep to dig himself out." Someone else entered the room at that point. Rogue couldn't see who because he was behind her, but the look of Julien's face made her heart leap into her throat._

_"He's here," the unseen fellow said, voicing what Rogue all ready knew._

-_"The plan?" He turned to look at her. "First we get a boat and get off of this godforsaken island and away from that man who'd like to call himself my father. After that we'll see." He eyes her suspiciously, but her expression was unreadable to him. She simply looked excited._

_"So, let's get a boat!" Tabitha said vehemently. "I've always wanted to see Scotland!"_

_-Logan frowned deeply. "I couldn't smell nuthin' outside, right? Inside I picked up on the Cajun's scent- and he was terrified." He gestured at the window. "We checked all over the grounds, and all we got f'r it was muddy shoes and wet clothes! An' I'm pretty damn sure I can smell Rogue goin' out, but not comin' back in," he folded his arms. "I don't think Chuck or Beast has been in this house since they left this morning! Something bad musta happened and I can't tell what."_

__

The door to the boathouse on Muir isle looked like it had been blow open by a small explosion. Likewise on of the chains that had been attached to one of the smaller but faster boats was shattered in several places. There were small scorch marks on the wooden floor. It looked like a battle had taken place recently. Despite all this, the inside of the boathouse was deathly quiet. 

"_Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee haaaaaaaaaaaw!_" Tabitha bellowed as the motorboat raced along. Legion was driving. At first he kept on glancing back at Tabitha, but began to ease up a little since none of his captors appeared to be following him. In fact he was, at the moment, grinning wickedly. 

"Now tha' we've left that island behind us we can really cut loose!" He laughed, throwing his head back. "We make a damn good team, you and I." 

Tabitha threw her arms around him for a minute and murmured, "You bet cutie!" into his ear. 

Legion's grin spread. He laughed again. "If I had known ye were such an interestin' character I would have just contacted you instead of taking over that wolf-girl's mind." 

Tabitha let go of him and waved it off. "Hey, no hard feelings, right?" She punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Just keep driving!" She strolled to the back of the boat and looked up. "Hmmm. . ." She made a rather large firecracker in her hand and threw it into the water where it exploded sending up. Legion jumped and the boat swerved as he accidentally jerked the wheel to one side. 

As the spray hit him he looked over his shoulder. "What in god's name are ye doing?!" 

"Easy cutie!" Tabitha advised him. "I'm not going to hit the boat. I'm just feeling a little warm and I thought some spray would cool us down." 

Legion rolled his eyes. "All right, but just keep watch for my _father_ and the rest of the misfits." 

Tabitha threw him a salute. "Aye, aye captain!" 

* 

Sean Cassidy, strapped in the Blackbird, looked out the window. "We'll never spot the bloody boat from up 'ere! It blends in with the crest o' the water," he informed Beast and Xavier. 

"I'm afraid you're right Sean, but if we fly any lower we'll give away our location before we spot them," Beast told the Scot. "I'm having a hard time getting them on radar too. Some sort of odd static." 

"Probably Legion, scrambling the machine with his power," Xavier muttered. 

"I'm afraid you might be right sir." 

"Well, we'll just have to beat them ta the mainland," Moira called out from the back. Since they did not want to leave Rahne alone, but neither Moira nor Sean could be convinced to stay behind with her, the young mutant was strapped onto a special medical table. Moira stroked her hair gently. Rahne flinched, and opened her eyes. 

"Mum?" She murmured. 

"I'm right here Rahne dear," Moira said, with evident relief. 

"Mum, I'm sorry," Rahne said, closing her eyes again. "He- I couldn't stop myself. He made me bring Tabitha so he could get out." 

All the adults, with the exception of Beast who was still concentrating on flying, turned around. 

"No wonder Tabitha helped him," Charles shook his head. "David could have done irreversible damage to Rahne's psyche." 

"But it still doesn't explain why she helped him break inta the boat house, steal a boat and take off-" Banshee began. Then he saw a large splash shooting up from the water beneath the jet. "What in the blue blazes is that?" 

Beast glanced out the window. There was several similar splashes. "Judging by the formation. . . It's a series of underwater explosions." 

"Explosions?" repeated Xavier. "Hank, follow that trail, but do not go any lower! It _must_ be Tabitha. She either knows the equipment isn't working, or she is trying to prevent David from seeing us. Either way it gives us a trail to follow." 

"I'll do my best sir," Beat assured him. 

Rahne smiled weakly. "I knew Tabitha would never turn on us." 

Sean lapsed into silence. 

* 

To Rogue, it seemed like she had been on the floor for ages. She had regretted toppling the chair almost immediately. Her head was throbbing horribly, and she couldn't be sure, but she thought she might have passed out once or twice since then. She was pretty sure she had a concussion of some sort. On top of all that she had twisted her bonds in such a way that they were making her right arm incredibly sore. 

_Remy, please turn back. You should be able to see it's a trap. Don't come after me._ She wriggled, trying to loosing the ropes binding her, but she was unsuccessful. _God fucking damnit!_

Rogue tired shifting her body weight to move the chair across the floor. It was an exhausting process and after a long time of working at it, she had only moved a few inches. Tearing up in frustration, Rogue tried to work her mouth around her gag so she could at least shout a warning, but it was tied too tight. Finally Rogue closed her eyes and let the tears flow. 

_Please don' let him follow me. Please jus' let me have gotten him so mad that he left th' mansion and didn't hear mah scream._

Outside Remy was up on a high tree branch, looking at the Ripper house which, as far as he could tell, had been repaired since he had last visited. He was just above the moving camera that had caused Rogue to absorb him months ago. He felt a twang of guilt over what he had been trying to do that night, but he pushed it aside. Someone even more important to him then Jean-Luc was trapped in that house this time. He wasn't going to fail her. 

"Hang on Rogue," he muttered as he jumped from an outstretched tree branch onto the nearest piece of rooftop he could find. "I'm coming." 

He made his way up to a third story balcony. It was fairly easy for him. The Rippers changed their security system once every few years. He had know the security system they had used before they kidnapped Jean-Luc, but not the new one. They had been pretty bold to hold Jean-Luc at their actual headquarters. Remy knew every inch of the third floor. He used to visit there every now and then. 

"Please don' let Belle be about," he murmured as he slipped the window open without a fuss. The room was empty, to his relief. Remy did some quick thinking. If they were holding Rogue and expecting him, they would have taken her directly to their most secure place. The basement. There was only one door into the basement, and it would probably be guarded by two brutes who made up for their lack of gray matter with muscle mass. The third staircase to the right was the one that would take him closest to the basement and it wasn't used very often. There was also a dumbwaiter that he could use. 

_T'ank god Belle had t' sneak me outta here so often_, Remy thought. If she hadn't he wouldn't have any idea where he was going besides his gut instinct. Gong down the dumbwaiter would cause a racket that he could ill afford to make, and the Rippers might have booby trapped the thing for such a home invasion. There were many thieves who would risk their necks to impress Jean-Luc by stealing something from the Ripper's home. Remy slipped down the stairwell with a phantom's grace. He hardly seemed to move at all, he appeared to glide down to the bottom floor. Of course, patrolling the bottom of the step was an armored member of the Rippers. Remy slipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out the two of diamonds. He charged the card, and with his uncanny aim, landed it between the Ripper's chest plate and his back. The Ripper slapped at his back as he thought something had slid down his shirt, but when the card exploded he was flung forward and crashed onto the ground, unconscious. 

"Feel lucky Gambit didn't charge the card up de whole way," Remy grunted at him as he relieved the fallen guard of a set of keys. He then tied the Ripper's hands and bound him to the bottom post of the stairs by the long leather ammunition case he had been wearing. "A suggestion, _mon ami_. Don' try to be a bodyguard any time in de near future." He patted the limp man on the head and continued on his way. 

The two thugs guarding the door to the basement stairs were disappointing. They weren't as big as he expected. In fact, compared to some of the folks in the Rippers, these guys were positively scrawny. 

Remy fished out a marble from his trench coat pocket. He charged it up and rolled it down the hallway next to them. It exploded, sending something crashing to the ground. The two Rippers, startled, jumped and ran in the direction of racket. 

"Too damn easy," Remy mumbled. He bit his lip gently. "I don' t'ink Julien would be dis careless. . ." His gut instinct said he was walking right into a trap. _I should go back. Call the mansion. . . See if Logan and Stormy are home._ _Do you want to take that risk mon ami?_

__He popped the lock on the door with ease. _Not wit' Rogue's life on de line._

__He pressed up against the side of the stairwell and slipped down them silently as a wraith. The basement in the Ripper's HQ was a well made labyrinth, not in any way a normal basement. Remy stalked along the corridor. His footsteps fell lightly. From what he could tell there was no one else nearby. _Yeah. Dis is definitely a trap._ _Julien, you got no style at all, _Remy thought. 

Rogue woke up, not even realizing that she had passed out again. The chair was upright and facing in the opposite direction, towards the door. She strained her ears, and could hear breathing behind her. The doorknob rattled and she felt the blood drain out of her face. _Don't come in. _

__Remy jiggled the knob again. _Locked_. He frowned. _Why even bother locking the door Julien? Do you t'ink I wouldn't have figure it out by now?_

He wedged a card between the door and the frame, right by the lock. Rogue saw it glowing through the crack and let out a muffled cry, trying to warn him away. Remy heard it, but it only made him kick the door open as soon as the lock was blown. 

"Rogue!" Remy shouted as he saw her. There was a large bruise on the right side of her head. His pulse quickened. He made a movement forward. 

"Stay where y' are LeBeau or your girlfriend gets her head blown off," Julien said flatly, aiming a large gun at Rogue from directly behind her. Rippers stepped out of the darkness. 

"Who's t' say I won't blow you up firs'?" Remy countered, looking more confidant than he felt. 

Julien smirked. "Well, den, mebbe I won' blow her up. Mebbe I'll jus' let de boys go at her, _non_?" 

Remy raised an eyebrow. "You gonna have a lot of unconscious help den, Julien." 

"Oh?" 

Rogue began making loud noises and shaking her head violently. Remy gave her a funny look. Julien let go of the gun with one hand to grab Rogue's chin. Remy froze when he realized that Julien's fingers, as well as Rogue's face, weren't covered. Julien forced Rogue to tilt her head up. The metal collar gleamed. 

"I t'ink it goes well wit' her outfit, don' you LeBeau?" Julie smirked. Rogue jerked away from him. "She's got spunk. You have quite de taste in women, I'll give you dat LeBeau." He ran a finger down the side of Rogue's neck. She shuddered visibly. She was still only clad in her tank top. Remy started forward to take Julien's head off. Two Rippers grabbed his arms. 

"If you touch a hair on her head Julien I'll rip you a new one!" He snapped. 

"You won't get a chance," Julien retorted. "Take LeBeau and his girlfriend to de real holdin' cells- an' don' put dem in de same one," he added. Julien gestured and one of the other Rippers snapped a collar around Remy's neck as well. "You act up LeBeau an' I t'row your girl to de loins," he whispered dangerously in Remy's face. "If you know what I mean." 

Another pair of Rippers removed Rogue from the chair and began forcing her out of the room. The Rippers with Remy soon followed. 

Julien cracked his knuckles and smirked. "Today is turnin' out t' be a damn good day." 

* 

The mini-jet had landed on the Muir Isle airstrip some time ago. Storm had taken to the air to see what she could see, which turned out to be virtually nothing. Wolverine had scoured the island. When they met up again, neither of them were too happy. 

"Rogue and Gumbo ain't been here, that's for certain," Logan grunted. "An' Beast and Chuck took off with Banshee, Rahne an' another Woman whom I'm guessin' is Moira. Tabitha, on the other hand," he growled slightly, "she left the island by boat, with someone whose smell resembles Chuck's." 

"David?" Storm asked. 

"More than likely," he replied. "She didn't smell scared either, so either she was brainwashed or she's helpin' him of her own free will." 

"We should go find them. . ." Storm began. 

"I dunno 'bout that 'Ro," Logan murmured. "Remember, since we know they ain't with Chuck, Gumbo and Rogue are MIA. An' I'm pretty sure they didn't take a romantic rendezvous anywhere because Chuck asked Rogue to watch the house." He frowned deeply and his eyes grew clouded with worry. "They might be hurt. Gumbo's smell reeked of terror around the house, especially when he made a beeline for the hangar." 

Ororo put a hand to her forehead. "We don't even know where they are. We need the Professor to operate Cerebro before we can even begin to find them." She looked up at Logan. "So we have to help him first." 

"The kids could be in danger 'Ro!" Logan shouted. "We can't go gallivanting off after Xavier's brat when they might be dyin'!" 

"And what do you suggest we do otherwise? Track them by ourselves? If Gambit had to take the heli-jet then don't you think it's going to be too far for us to follow on foot?" 

Logan's eyes widened. "That's it 'Ro," he whispered. "Where else on earth would the Cajun go that he'd need the heli-jet to go to?" 

Ororo paused. 

"New Orleans," they said together. 

"Why in god's name would Remy be going to New Orleans again?" Ororo asked. "He didn't leave a fantastic impression with the locals last time, and neither did Rogue." 

"I doubt he went down there for a holiday visit 'Ro," Logan said. "Plus Gumbo wouldn't waste a minute of bein' alone with Rogue. That ain't his style." 

"I have no doubt that you are right," Ororo said wryly. "Still, Remy took the heli-jet, most likely to New Orleans. . . And you didn't smell Rogue coming back into the house. Logan. . . What if Rogue was kidnapped? By the people we fought in New Orleans?" 

Logan growled. "If that's so, then I'm gonna be makin' jambalaya with some rowdy Cajuns." He shot out his claws. 

"So we have a choice then," Ororo gestured. "Find Xavier and confirm what we think has happened to Rogue and Gambit, or go after them blindly and hope we're right." 

"Well either way let's choose quickly. We don't have time to waste." 

* 

The newly discarded boat bobbed up a bit with the coming in of the tide. About fifty feet away from it Tabitha and Legion walked up the beach to the Scottish mainland. 

"What an awesome ride!" Tabitha bubbled. "I should hang out with guys like you more often!" She looped her arm around his. "This is all ready turning into a great party!" 

Legion smirked. "It's about bloody time I met someone with a similar outlook on life. What do you say ta painting this burg red?" 

"Sounds like a plan to me," Tabitha said. "Lead the way." 

Legion took the lead, walking straight for the center of town. Tabitha made a small firecracker in the hand behind her back, and dropped it to the ground. It rolled a few feet then exploded, but not very loudly. It left a fairly decent sized burn mark on the cobblestone road. _I wonder if this is how Hanzel felt?_ She thought. 

Beast let the others out of the Blackbird before making a water landing. Xavier addressed the small group. "Perhaps it's for the best," he said slowly, "if you and Rahne stayed here Moira." 

"Are ye mad Charles?" Moira demanded. "I dinnae come with you just to be left behind." 

"I only thought that someone should watch Rahne," Xavier clarified, but the girl broke in. 

"Professor, sir, I want ta help you," Rahne said. She was a little wobbly after being under Legion's control, but besides that she looked fine. "I can track them better than ye can if I transform and we won't look out of the ordinary either." She looked imploringly at Moira. "Please mum! I can help ye if ye give me a chance!" 

Moira and Charles exchanged glances. 

"Ye cannae be seriously considerin' this!" Sean said. "Out 'f concern for the lass, ye cannae let her do this. First o' all, what happens if Legion decides ta take over her mind again? She isn't fully recovered from the first time. It could really hurt her!" 

"Legion isn't likely to target Rahne if the Professor is around," Beast pointed out. "She's not his target. The Professor is." 

Sean frowned. "Can you be sure about tha'?" 

"No," Beast said. "But in this line of work, you can't be sure about anything." 

Sean snorted. "I cannae deny that." He sighed deeply. "If the lass wants to help. . . Then I think we should let her help." 

"No," the professor shook his head. "I can't put you and Rahne into danger like this Moira. Rahne's just a child, and you. . ." 

"I'm a normal human?" Moira said, eyes flashing. "I dinnae care what you say Charles," she said firmly. "Rahne and I are coming." 

Rahne's face lit up as Charles' brow knit in frustration. "Moira I don't think-" he began. 

"Thank ye mum! I won't let ye down!" Rahne promised. She immediately transformed, sat wagging her tail and barked once. She let her tongue loll out of one side of her mouth and she panted. Moira patted her on the head.   
"Now remember, stay close, even if you smell them near. Yer in no condition to take on Legion on yer own, aye?" 

Rahne barked once and nodded her head. She stood up on all fours and sniffed the air. Beast patted Charles on the shoulder gently. "I know you're concerned Charles, but you're going to need help. It's for the best." 

Xavier bowed his head slightly. "I understand that Hank. I'm just- concerned. Very concerned. David was able to outwit me." 

"Sir," Beast said, with just the hint of a smile at the edge of his mouth, "You can't figure out the riddle I told you last Tuesday. You're a psychic, not a god. Legion would have outwitted himself if he needed to." 

"Thank you old friend," Charles patted Beast's hand. "That's something I needed to hear." 

Beast chuckled. "Well, I couldn't let you think you were a god, now could I? It's my job to make sure you remember you're only human." 

Charles chuckled, the first time in over twenty four hours. "And you do it very well." 

"Charley!" Sean called out. "Get yer wheelchair in gear laddie! We'll never get anywhere if you just sit around here!" 

Charles nodded to Beast, and they began following Rahne down the cobbled streets of the seaside Scottish town. 

* 

Remy and Rogue were shoved in separate, but adjacent cells deeper in the basement under the Ripper's stronghold. Before locking them up they made sure that Remy's collar was secure and he had been relieved of all lock picks, cards, small pieces of metal, and anything that could be used as a thieves tool. They made a show of manhandling Rogue, and one of the Rippers even kissed her on the cheek. She tried to kick him, but was forced into the cell before she got the chance. 

"Joo gonna rot in here LeBeau," one of the Rippers taunted. 

"Dat's what you t'ink," Remy said, his eyes dully flashing in anger. "As soon as I get dis collar off. . ." 

The Rippers laughed collectively. "Joo expect to pull it off? We're way ahead o' you LeBeau. If you don't open dose t'ings with de special remote dey blow. So sure, go ahead and try. It'd be a damn funny t'ing t' see joor head all over de walls." He laughed and waved at the other Rippers. "C'mon. Lets get outta here. It smell like t'ief." 

After they had gone Remy looked over towards Rogue. She was laying in her cell, shivering. They had not removed her gag, and she hadn't looked one hundred percent when she was struggling with the guards and it made Remy concerned. 

"Rogue?" He murmured. She rolled over to face him. He saw a bruise on her head that he didn't notice before. His eyes widened in fury. "Dose bastards!" He swore. Rogue made a muffled noise through the gag. Remy frowned. "Turn around," he said, reaching through the bars into her cell. "I'll take it off." 

Rogue nodded and leaned back against the bars. Remy untied the knot and the gag fell from Rogue's lips. She took a deep breath. Then she turned around. He reached through the bars and went to touch the bruise, but Rogue caught his hand. "Ah did that," she mumbled. "Ah was tryin' t' get out, and Ah toppled the chair over. Ah knew Julien was settin' a tap f'r ya. Ah wanted t' warn ya." 

He let his hand cup her cheek and he smiled faintly at her. "Next time let me worry 'bout you, 'stead o' de other way around. No need f'r you t' get hurt because o' dis t'ief." 

She nodded gently. Remy rubbed his thumb against her cheek, then leaned towards her to touch her lips with his. Rogue returned the kiss for a second, then shuddered violently. Remy watched her, very worried, as she pulled back and wrapped her arms around her shoulders, rubbing them. The cells were cold and dank, and she wasn't clad well for the climate. Remy quickly put two and two together . He stood up, took off his trench coat, and the passed it through the bars to her. Rogue looked up at him, hesitant to take the jacket. 

"Much as I like de view," he said, eyes raking across her outfit, "I don' want you t' get sick. You don' look too well in de first place." 

Rogue smirked, and pulled the trench coat on. "S'my fault. Runnin' out in th' cold an' th' rain with next t' nothin' on wasn't 'xactly th' smartest thing Ah coulda done." She looked away from him. "Remy- Ahm sorry 'bout th way Ah acted. . ." 

Remy silenced her. "S'okay Rogue. I should have realized dat it wasn't de right time t' confront you 'bout something like that." 

She shrugged the coat around her tighter and then sat down, leaning her head against the bars that their cages shared. Remy sat down next to her, slipping his arm through the bars to hold her. "If Ah hadn't been stupid 'bout it we wouldn't be in this mess." She shivered, closing her eyes. "Ah, gawd Ah feel like crap. Mah head feels like someone's been usin' it f'r a drum." 

Remy reached up and turned her face so he could look at it. He frowned, tugged his glove off, and reached to touch the bruise. Rogue instinctively moved back. "Rogue, it's okay. Julien's pretty little collars will keep us safe." 

Rogue grumbled. "Ah don't like them. They don' feel right." She reluctantly allowed Remy to touch her forehead. She winced when he touched the purple and black batch of skin, even though his touch was feather-light. 

"You probably got a concussion _Cherie_," he informed her. 

"Ah figgered as much," she rolled her eyes. "You'd think that Julien an' his thugs would be the one to beat meh up, not mahself." 

"You always beat yourself too much," he said quietly. His eyes met hers for a moment, then she looked away again. 

"Ah don't want t' hurt anyone," she breathed. "'Specially not th' people Ah care 'bout." Despite the bars their faces came right next to each other's. "If Ah evah hurt you. . . Or any o' the othahs. . .Ah'd die. ." Rogue looked at him, her green eyes clashing with his red and black ones. "'Specially if it was you." 

Remy touched her face and drew her close. Their lips met again, gently at first, then with more passion. Were it not for the bars between them, there might have been a performance similar to what Rogue had dreamed about. Remy broke away for a second and chuckled. "Dis isn't exactly how I pictured dis t' be. I t'ought we'd have a more romantic setting dan dis." 

Rogue wrapped her fingers, now bare, in his. "Well, Ah nevah 'xpected this t' evah happen. Not with mah luck. Not with mah powahs." She kissed him again, savoring the feeling. 

They heard footsteps coming down the hallway and broke away. Remy tensed as he heard the key turn in the lock, and watched the door open. A single shadowy figure entered. 

"Rogue-" Remy whispered urgently. "If dis guys got de keys, den we're home free. You distract him, and I'll grab him when he gets close 'nough." 

Rogue nodded. She was thinking about what she should do when the Ripper came into the light. Remy's whole body went rigid. Rogue's eyes flicked between him and the young woman standing in front of them. 

"Well dis is a sorry sight. I t'ought you would have been able t' outwit Julien, LeBeau. I'm disappointed." 

Remy's jaw dropped a good inch. "B- Belle?" 

The blonde leaned over and kissed him directly on the lips. Rogue's face grew hot, and she bit back her fury as Remy didn't pull away from this intruder. 

"I'm here t' get you out of dis fine mess," Bella Donna told him. "Stand back and let me open this door." 

Remy got up and stumbled backwards, stunned. Belle opened the door, and in one fluid motion had wrapped her arms around him. 

"I t'ought you left Louisiana fo' good LeBeau." She whispered into his ear. "So what brought you back? Feelin' homesick? Or," she kissed his ear, "did you miss de company?" 

"Belle-" he began firmly, pushing her away. 

"Here," she said, touching some buttons on the collar around his neck. It fell to the ground, deactivated and harmless. "Is dat better? We'll get you out of here." 

"Okay," he said. "Den give me de keys, so we can get Rogue outta here too." Remy nodded at her. 

"You're jokin', right LeBeau?" 

"No," he replied in a flat tone. 

Bella Donna looked infuriated. "Are you crazy? Why should I help her? She's de reason poppa's in a coma!" She glared daggers at Rogue. "I am _not_ helpin' her!" Belle tugged on Remy's sleeve. "Let's go. Leave de tart," Belle murmured. "I c'n give you more dan she can, an' you know it." 

Remy pushed her away. "I ain't leaving wit'out her." He walked up to cage and reached in for Rogue. He leaned his head against hers. "I could never leave you here." 

Rogue bit her lower lip. "If ya go- ya could get help-" she said slowly. 

"No," he said firmly. "I am _not_ leaving unless you're wit' me Rogue. I don' trust Julien." 

Rogue kissed him and smiled. Belle snorted. 

"C'mon LeBeau, dere's no reason to be foolin' de girl any longer," Belle informed him. She looked at Rogue and shook her head. "You used t' woo pretty ones t' make me jealous. You're standards are droppin'," she mumbled. Rogue looked shocked by the comment, then angry. "Well, I'm over dat now anyway." 

Rogue's expression was unreadable, and Remy shot Belle a scalding look. "Belle, I left you and de rest o' N'awlens behind me fo' a reason," he scowled at her. "I didn't wan' people usin' me no more. An' you used me jus' like de rest o' dem." 

Belle looked scandalized. "Remy, I t'oght you an' I had somet'ing special! After al we've been t'rough. . .after all we did-" 

"You knew it was over when I didn't bring you along!" Remy nearly shouted. "And did you t'ink I didn't know dat you were ready to t'row me t' Julien and yo' poppa as soon as you were tired wit' me?" 

Belle growled at him, "So, instead, you fucked me until you got tired o' me? You're a goddamn hypocrite!" 

Remy felt the blood drain from his face. He heard Rogue moved back suddenly in shock, but couldn't turn to face her. He had never told anyone at the mansion that he used to have (for lack of a better word) a girlfriend. Now not only did Rogue know he had dated Belle (to some extant) she knew he had been intimately involved with Belle, but she didn't understand the whole story. Remy finally glanced over at her, but she didn't meet his gaze. 

_Damnit LeBeau, you **should** have told her! She should have never found out dis way!_ Remy thought. He bit his lower lip, then turned back to Belle with a vengeance. 

"Give me de keys Belle." 

"Screw you LeBeau," Belle retorted. "You'll be lucky if I don' lead Julien down here t' kill you!" 

Remy scowled at her and pressed a finger to the lock on Rogue's cage. "Stan' back _Cherie_." 

Rogue nodded dully, and then obeyed. With a small '_pop'_ the lock exploded and then fell to the ground. Remy held his hand out to Rogue. She looked at it, and then looked at him. Biting her lip, she took it hesitantly. Somewhere in the back of his mind Remy breathed a partial sigh of relief. Still, he could only imagine how their conversation would go later. 

Rogue looked at him. _Ah'm so tired o' all o' this, _She thought sadly. _We get ovah one thing, an' somethin' else comes up t' bite us in th' ass._ She felt her temper rising. _Why the hell didn't he tell me about this bitch? Doesn't he trust meh?!_ A small voice in the back of her head, possibly someone else's, said _Well, knowing you, don't you think he'd be scared you'd react like this?_

__Remy turned to Belle. "Now, get dis t'ing offa her," he said, gesturing at the collar." 

"Get it off yo'self LeBeau," she snapped back at him. "I hope you blow her head sky-high." 

Remy's eyes flashed in fury. He grabbed Belle by the wrist and glared at her. "Get dis t'ing offa her or so help me God, Belle. . ." 

"I came down here t' help you out an' you alone. She hurt poppa, I ain't doing shit f'r her," Belle said. She gave Rogue a look of pure malice. 

"Ah don' want any help from a bitch like you anyway," Rogue snarled, the first time she had spoken since Belle's arrival. 

"I'll help you- right off a cliff," Belle retorted. 

"Both o' you jus' shut up!" Remy shouted. The girls looked at him. He immediately felt his heart sink. Belle looked insulted, which was nothing new, but Rogue looked hurt. "Rogue-" 

"Let's get outta hea," Rogue said, pushing past him. She suddenly looked very wobbly, and one leg folded beneath her. Remy rushed to help her up. 

"Rogue, what's wrong? You don' look so good _Cherie_. Mebbe. . . We jus' stay put for now?" Remy suggested. Rogue shook her head. 

"We can't. That jerk will come down here an' see that the collar is off you an' that's it," Rogue reminded him. "We've gotta go now." She didn't look at him directly, and mumbled the words. "'Sides, Ah don' think yah girlfriend ovah there is gonna be helpin' us much longer." 

"Rogue, Belle's never-" Remy began, but Rogue cut him off. 

"Whatevah, let's just get outta this hole and then we can talk about it. . . And whatevah else y'all haven't told me," she murmured. 

"Right," he sighed. "So Belle, are you gonna help us outta here or do we go alone?" He turned to face the young Cajun woman. 

Belle's face was unreadable. She didn't answer for a while, then said, "I'm helpin' _you_ LeBeau, not her." She walked down the way and gestured for them to follow. "I'm warnin' you now Remy- leave me alone wit' dat skunk-haired bitch and I'll tear her in two. Dat's a promise." 

Remy put an arm around Rouge and helped her along. Her movements were a bit off, and her face was paler than usual. Remy thought the better of asking her how she felt- he worried that he might get his head chewed off. 

_I'm in de middle o' a **house** o' people dat **hate** me. . . An' I feel more scared about being between dese two **women **dan I do 'bout being in-between the walls o' dis place,_ Remy observed._ I never cease to amaze myself. Huh. . . What'll really be amazing is if I convince Rogue not to hate me after dis. . . _

__"Is she always this charmin'?" Rogue asked sarcastically. 

"If she wasn't she wouldn't be Belle," Remy said with twinges of exasperation and remorse. "She'd be a normal gal." 

Rogue nodded in a bit of a daze. She mumbled something incoherently. 

"What-?" 

"Ah. Don'. Trust. Her. One. Bit." Rogue hissed again. "What makes you so sure she's not gonna turn us over t' Julien?" 

"I'm not sure. Dat's why you gotta stick close to me. We might have to make a break for it," Remy advised her. 

"Great," Rogue rolled her eyes and groaned. "Ah'd rather have Julien guidin' us then. At least he's the devil we do know, instead o' th' devil we don't." 

They fell silent as they caught up to Belle, who motioned for them to be quiet. They could clearly hear footsteps and voices in the hallway. After a few moments they passed and Bella Donna opened the door. 

"All clear," she murmured, indicating that they should follow her again. 

As they walked down the hallway Rogue murmured so that only Remy could hear, "If she'd been in Eden, she would've tempted th' snake." 

Silently he agreed with her. 

* 

The owner of O'Riley's Pub thought he saw two teenagers walk in, but when he looked at the couple more closely they appeared to be elderly, perhaps in their eighties. One of the waiters walked over and asked what they wanted. The man ordered drinks, as the woman seemed to be laughing uncontrollably about something. 

"Now this,_ this_ is really something, cutie," the woman said to the man between fits of laughter. 

Puzzled by the comment, but knowing that he was probably just intruding on their conversation, the waiter left to fill their orders. 

"So they really think I'm like, old gray and wrinkly?" Tabitha asked Legion eagerly. 

Legion nodded with a smirk. "They never check the ID of a senior citizen who wants a drink. Why should they?" 

"You've got a point there," Tabitha nodded. "So, what's next?" 

"First, we have t' take care o' my father," Legion said with venom in his voice. "After that, Scotland is our oyster." 

"I always preferred clams myself," Tabitha teased. Then her expression turned grave. "How are you and I going to beat the Professor? He's got beast and Banshee helping, if not more people." 

"Father won't let them interfere. He feels this is 'his battle'. I'm his _mistake_. One little slip of the mind and he lest out a monster, you know?" Legion laughed. "He's so damn predictable. That's how I got him to do exactly what I wanted in the first place. I was able to use my powers to learn his personality traits from my mother. After that it was easy setting up the rest." The waiter returned with their drinks. Tabitha ran her finger across the rim of hers, while Legion knocked his back at once. "And with your help I can wipe my father from existence." 

Tabitha lifted up her drink and sniffed it. She didn't like the idea of drinking. Her father drank all the time. . . when he wasn't stealing things. She pushed the drink away, offering it to Legion. "How would we do that?" 

Legion held the drink firmly and his tongue slipped across his lips. "Simple. Father needs perfect concentration to even come close to my power. Once I have him engaged in mental battle you use your fireballs to distract him, and I'll erase his mind. He'll be a helpless child." 

Legion smiled wickedly and knocked back the second drink, gesturing for more. Tabitha watched him down another two drinks before she spoke. "Did you ever think that maybe. . .this isn't what you want to be doing?" 

"Only my weaker sides doubt themselves. _I _know _exactly_ what I'm doing," he said confidently. "What could I doubt? Do you think that I'll regret getting rid of my father? The man could have cared less about me." 

"From what I heard he didn't know that you were alive-" 

"-Because he left my mother to pursue some righteous dream of peace!" Legion said furiously, slamming a glass down on the table. "He cared more about his damn _students_ and his _dream_ then his own _family_!" His eyes glinted with fire. "I'm gonna teach that bastard a lesson he won't forget. Heh," Legion laughed. "Well actually, he'll never know what hit him. Once I've made him into a blank slate he'll have no memory of what he's done or what I've done to him." 

"You know," Tabitha said slowly, "I think you're making a mistake. Xavier's a stiff, I know, but think about it- he came here because he was concerned for you. Just like he did before-" 

"Are you going to help me or not?" Legion snapped at her. 

Tabitha paused. "You're hurting two parents who love you by doing this." 

"That doesn't answer my question." 

She sighed. "Yeah, I'll help." 

"Good. It's settled then," he smirked. He ordered another drink and drank it. Tabitha sat silently in the booth with him, a darkened look on her face. 

_What the heck is taking you guys so long?_ Tabitha wondered. 

* 

Beast and Moira were working on a small machine together. They had pieced back together the psychic inhibitor that Banshee had unwittingly destroyed earlier. Still, with this, a few good ideas, and Beast and Moira working in tandem, they had begun to formulate a plan. The small group had taken up temporary residence in a townhouse that Moira's family owned on the mainland. Xavier was watching the pub down the street. He knew that Tabitha and Legion were inside. They hadn't needed Rahne to track the duo- Tabitha had left more than enough clues as to where they were going. 

"Ah!" Moira cursed. "Stupid bloody thing!" They were trying to bond pieces of a Cerebro headset to the inhibitor, and the thing had started sparking. "We're ne'er going ta get this thing finished in time ta catch him unawares!" 

"Have a little faith Moira," Beast suggested. "We have time still, and I'm pretty sure that we'll be able to improvise if things don't go exactly according to plan. After all, that's what we're best at," he shot a bit of a smile towards Charles, who couldn't help but smile a bit back.. 

"What this bloody thing supposed ta do anyway Hank?" Sean asked, peering over Hank's furry shoulders to get a look at the contraption. "It looks like a mess." 

"Ideally it will isolate the three separate brain wave patterns within Legion. The professor will then be able to correct the mistake he made, and make David the primary entity instead of Lucas," Beast explained. 

"So, we've got ta get this thing on 'im?" Sean said skeptically. "How?" 

"We sneak up on him while he and Charles are locked in mental combat," Beast said quite simply. 

"You make it sound like it's going to be so easy," Sean sighed, knowing it would be anything but. "What about the lassie?" 

"What about Tabitha?" Charles said, wheeling over. 

Sean frowned. "Well, if she's working with him, she might use one o' those little firecrackers o' hers t' destroy this- _thing_?" 

"Sean!" Rahne said, shocked. "Tabitha would nae work with someone as vile as Legion! And if she were why would she be leaving us clues?" The young girl looked scandalized. 

"Sometimes criminals leave clues, to taunt the police," Sean murmured. He folded his arms and walked to the window. He pushed down the vinyl blinds with two fingers and looked at the pub. "From what ye've told me the lass doesn't have the greatest track record. She _could _be going along with this of her own free will. She might be enjoying it." His expression darkened and he glanced at Xavier. "They might be setting a trap fer us and we won't be prepared-" Sean rounded on Xavier, "-because you are all convinced that she's just trying ta help us!" 

"Sean!" Moira said in a chiding tone. "Please. I cannae think with you being so negative!" She frowned. "We're going to play everything by ear. I dinnae think the girl is trying tae harm us. I know you're concerned. We all are, but dinna be jumping to conclusions, aye?" 

"Aye," Sean sighed. "Yer right. I just cannae help but be nervous. The boy was hard enough ta deal with when he first arrived on the isle. Now he's going ta be mad at us as well. . ." 

"Fortunately, I will be acting as the lightning rod for that anger," Charles pointed out. "You won't have to worry about it Sean. If need be," he said slowly, "I _can_ disable Tabitha as well as Legion. I just hope it doesn't come to that." 

Rahne looked up at the adults. "What can I do?" She asked. 

"Yer going to hold this for us, out of sight," Moira said, indicating the special headset. "At least until we've got Legion occupied. Then you'll pass it off ta Sean, and he'll take care o' puttin' it on him." 

Rahne nodded eagerly. "Ye can count on me mum!" 

Moira ruffled Rahne's short hair. "I know I can luv." 

Beast tweaked a few connections, and closed the final open panel in the device. "There. It should work perfectly. Now all we need to do is wait for Legion and Tabitha to appear and take him down." 

"We're going to have to get ready rather quickly," Xavier said. "They're on the move again. They're leaving the pub, and from what I can tell, David's intoxicated. It could prove to be the grain that tips the scales in our favor, so let's not waste the moment." 

Rahne transformed into a dog, and Beast handed her the headset. She gently wrapped her tongue around it, so that her canine teeth didn't damage it and took it in her mouth. Beast cracked all his digits and Moira gave him a look of mild disapproval. Sean looked at Xavier. Xavier nodded to him, and Sean went to the door. 

"On the count of three. One. Two-" 

Sean, looking out the window next to the door suddenly jumped back. "Charles! He-" 

The door exploded inward, sending Sean flying backwards into Beast. They both crashed into the dining room table. 

"Hello dad. I'm home," Legion said, his eyes sparkling. 

* 

Though Belle had yet to give them a reason not to trust her, Remy and Rogue were both on their guard. Someone had all ready discovered Rogue and Gambit were missing and the whole house was crawling with Rippers. As they made their way down one hallway they could hear footsteps and Julien's voice. 

"Didn't joo check him for lock picks? Damnit! Joo're all useless!" 

Belle opened a door and gestured for Rogue and Remy to get in. Remy nodded, and pulled a hesitant Rogue in with him. Belle shut the door. Julien's footsteps came closer and finally they stopped just by the door. 

"Belle, what de hell are joo doin'? Joo know dat fool Cajun an' his girlfriend got out! Joo should be lookin' for dem like de rest of us! Dey can't have gone far. Deir powers are blocked. Dey'd want to get de remote first. . ." Julien said. "An' joo an' I got de only ones. Stay by me. Got it?" 

"Why we gotta drag Remy into this too? Jus' de bitch screwed up poppa." 

There was an odd silence, then Julien said a stone cold reply, "Because dat bastard was involved dat's why. An' when I find dem, I'm gonna let any o' de boys who want a piece of his girlfriend screw wit' her while he watches." 

Rogue felt Remy tense furiously besides her. She herself was infuriated by the prospect, but at this point there wasn't much she could do about it, powerless and stuck in a closet. Plus she wasn't feeling her best. She suddenly felt Remy grab her hand and squeezed it. It was his own little way of saying 'Over my dead body Julien,' without blowing their cover. Rogue appreciated it. 

Belle and Julien's voices dropped to a lower whisper as a couple of the Rippers made horrible jokes about what they would do to Rogue when they got their turn. Rogue was trembling with fear and fury by the time they finally heard Julien leave. Bella Donna opened the door for them and nodded. 

"I got Julien t'pull de forces away from de main hall, tellin' him I'd try to lure you out. We're gonna head down dat way." 

Remy nodded and began to follow. Rogue grabbed his wrist. "Remy, Ah don' trust her. Let's just split." 

"Not wit' you injured like dis. You can hardly stand-" he held up a finger to silence her, "- and you know it." He ran the back of his hand down her cheek. "Gambit don' want you getting hurt _Cherie_. Not any more than you have all ready. Belle's gonna get us outta here okay." 

Rogue looked at him pleadingly for a second but Remy gave her a look of confidence back. She sighed, and then nodded her consent. Belle led them through the winding hallways of the Rippers' house. Rogue became increasingly uneasy when they didn't run into anyone else. Remy didn't seem too phased by it. When they finally got to the entrance hall Rogue began to breathe a sigh of relief until Remy shouted, "You set us up!" and the clicks of all sorts of weapons being armed sounded in the room. 

Bella Donna backed away from Remy and Rogue and Julien came to her side and patted her on the back. "Joo know what dey say LeBeau. Hall hath no fury like a woman scorned," Julien said with a smirk. 

"Ah knew she was a two faced bitch," Rogue muttered furiously. Belle held out her hand, And Rogue snorted at her. "What're ya gonna do? Slap meh?" 

Anything Rogue was going to say next was cut off as a beam of energy shot out form Bella Donna's hand and hit her squarely in the chest. Rogue flew a few feet backwards and hit the ground hard. Remy's eyes widened, and his jaw dropped as he looked at Belle's hand, which was still smoking. Remy rushed over to Rogue, who was gasping. The wind had been knocked out of her, and the shock of being blown back like that had left her dazed. 

"Never t'ought dat mebbe one o' us would be a mutant too, did ya Remy?" Belle taunted. "I'll enjoy watching your expression when we let de boys play wit' dat tramp." 

Remy flicked out a card and charged it. He was ready to throw it when he realized that more than two dozen guns of varying powers were pointed at him and Rogue, the largest being Julien's precious missile launcher. Remy dropped the card, the charge fizzling out. "Who do you really want Julien?" Remy said. "Me or her? She's jus' an excuse. You're using her t' get t' me because you don' have de balls." 

Julien growled at him. "Don' tempt me t' blow your brains across de hall, because damn it LeBeau, I will." 

Rogue, sat up and clutched Remy's arm. He moved between her and Julien and Bella Donna. "I'm not gonna let him touch you _ Cherie_. Don' you worry. Jus' stay behind me." 

Rogue to stand, but her knees buckled. Her head had struck the floor when she hit it, and combined with her earlier bruise it was hard for her to see straight. She groaned, her head throbbing with pain. Remy looked down at her, wrapped his arms around her and helped her up. "Ah've been knocked silly," she muttered into his shoulder. "Yah nevah told meh th' bitch was a mutant." 

"I didn't know," Remy confessed. If her had, he would have been taking the blow for Rogue, instead of standing there, letting her get more injured. He glared defiantly at the Bordeauxs. 

"Out o' de way LeBeau," Julien snarled. "Give us de bitch, an' we'll go easy on you." 

"Over my dead body Julien," Remy said firmly. 

"If you insist," Belle held her hand out towards him, energy gathering around it. "You would've been better of staying with me LeBeau. I doubt de girl who can't touch anyone can pleasure you de way I could." She blew him a little kiss. 

Rogue clung to Remy, despite the fact that he was trying to push her away. He told her to let go, but she shook her head. "Ah ain't leavin' yah hea," she told him. 

"Touchin'," Belle snorted. "Now, it's over." She aimed and fired off her blast. Remy wrapped himself around Rogue and they both went flying through the front door and outside. Rogue landed somewhat laying on Remy. There was a sickening crunch when he hit the ground and he gasped in pain, clutching at his chest. 

Rogue rolled off him. "Remy?" She said fearfully. 

His eyes were filled with pain. "I- I t'ink I broke a few ribs," he told her. "Go- hurry, you know where de boats are." 

"Hell no, not without you," she said. "You may have a bad choice in ex-girlfriends, but that don' mean Ah'm leavin' yah t' th' bitch." She helped haul him to his feet. "C'mon. Let's hurry." The duo tried to hobble over to one of the boats as best they could but just as they were about to reach the dock a missile whipped past them and blew up the boat the had their eyes on. The two were roughly separated by some overgrown Ripper thugs, and dragged back over to Julien and Belle, who were now standing out on the front lawn. Remy was bent over in pain and Julien walked up to him. "What's de matter LeBeau? Stomach ache?" 

"Anytime I'm around someone as filthy as you I get sick," Gambit retorted. 

Julien pulled back his fist to punch him. Rogue shouted "No!" Loudly and tried to get away from her captors, but was unable to. God only knew what damage Julien would do to Remy. 

Just as he was about to swing a figure stepped out from behind one of the moss covered trees. There was a soft 'snikt' like someone unsheathing several blades at once. "I wouldn't move another muscle bub." 

The sky suddenly went from being a fairly bright night to being pitch black. Lightning rumbled in the clouds. Ororo landed in front of Rogue and the Rippers holding her, whom immediately released her, and stepped back. Rogue hugged Ororo immediately, trembling slightly. 

"You guys couldn't have had bettah timin'," Rogue said thankfully. 

Logan led Julien away form the bowed Remy, and only had to glance at the Rippers holding him to make them move away. Rogue made her way to Remy's side and helped him up. Storm quickly assessed the situation from descriptions of what happened from the both of them. Logan looked at the Bordeaux siblings and the other Rippers, a cold glint in his eye. 

"Now, if you wanna pick on someone, you could try me on for size," he snarled. 

Julien growled, and pulled out a small remote from his jacket. He tossed it to Bella Donna. "Blow it!" 

Belle took a matching remote out of her pocket. Holding one in each hand, Belle blasted them full on with her plasma energy, and they shattered like crystal that had just met concrete at a high velocity. Logan looked at the two teenagers and snorted. "What, is that supposed ta make me scared?" 

"Shit!" Remy shouted. "Dose were de remotes for de collars!" 

"Collars?" Logan growled, raising an eyebrow. 

Rogue indicated the collar around her neck. "It's some sorta. . .power suppresser." 

Logan snorted. "Who needs a remote?" Her popped out a single claw. "I got a key." 

"No!" Remy and Rogue chorused. "De t'ing'll blow if you force it," the Cajun elaborated. 

Logan turned to the Rippers and snarled, the rest of his claws popping out again. "Why you little bastards-" 

"Logan- don't-" Storm cautioned him. Logan growled. 

"If you so much as come within a hundred yards of the mansion, I'll know," he tapped his nose. "An' you'll wish you were _never_ born." He moved at a lightning speed and slashed Julien's missile launcher into three pieces. Julien staggered back in shock. Logan then stopped with his claws just inches from Belle's throat. "Got it?" 

The Rippers slowly backed down. Logan shoved Belle at Julien and stalked away. He picked up Rogue, who was wobbly on her feet. "Soon as we get home kid, I'll let you borrow my powers and you'll be-" Rogue sighed. Logan's eye twitched slightly. "'Roooooooooooo!" He almost whined. 

"No," she said again, even more firmly. "There's no need to attack them." 

"It's on _principal_ though!" 

"No!" 

Ororo helped Remy walk. They took a boat and headed back to where Remy had parked the smaller jet, where Logan and Storm had also arrived. Each instructor flew one of the machines back to the mansion. Once they had gotten there Logan again picked Rogue up and brought her to the infirmary. Ororo ushered Remy there as well. 

"As soon as Hank gets back we're going to have him take a look at the both of you, all right?" Ororo said. 

"T'anks Stormy," Remy said, wincing. "How you'd know where to find us?" 

"When it comes down to it, we guessed," Logan said bluntly. 

Remy gave him an odd look. "Dat's not very comforting. . ." 

"We got there in time, didn't we?" Logan said. "That's what's important." 

"I hope that the Professor and Hank are all right. . ." Ororo murmured as she and Logan left the infirmary. Logan gave her a pat on the back. 

"If there's one guy I know who can take care of himself. . ." 

"It's the professor, I know," Ororo sighed. 

"Actually, I was talkin' 'bout Cassidy. We didd some black ops work together once," Logan shrugged. "But yeah, I guess Check can handle himself all right." 

Ororo frowned. 

* 

"What, you're not happy to see me?" Legion said, folding his arms. "You've been following me. I thought that you wanted me to drop in." 

"I did, but I'd much rather talk to David," Charles said. 

Legion walked over and slammed both his hands down on the arms of Charles' wheelchair. Tabitha slipped into the house behind him. She found a spot in the corner where she tried to look inconspicuous 

"David's gone old man. The sooner ye come t' grips with tha' the sooner ye'll be able to move on." 

Charles' blue eyes analyzed Legion's face. "If that's so, then why are you so nervous?" 

"Nervous?!" Legion threw his head back and laughed. "And ye call yerself the most powerful telepath in the world?" He stepped back. "We'll see. Especially since you don't have any of your little headsets or other toys to help ye." 

He lashed out with his mind, and Charles countered it. The two locked in mental combat, which the other inhabitants in the room could feel in the edges of their subconscious. 

Rahne, still holding the inhibitor, ran over toward Moira. Moira grasped it. . . But then nearly dropped it as the mental combat wore on her mind. It was stronger for her than the others. Being mutant they had some degree of protection for each other's powers. Sean and Beast untangled themselves, and rushed over to Moira. Beast just barely caught her as she began to collapse. Sean seized the inhibitor from Rahne. 

"Stupid son of a bitch-" he swore. Charging over towards Legion he got ready to throw the headset on him. . . 

Then Legion looked right at him. Sean stopped in his tracks. He tried to move but found he couldn't. He was being held in place telekinetically. "A nice little side effect of once having those two other wimps in my head. I can focus my mental powers in more place than one." He flinched. "Though, it is more than irritating. . ." He flicked his hand and the power inhibitor flew from Sean's grasp into Tabitha's. "Blow the godforsaken thing!" 

Tabitha held the inhibitor, quite stunned. Legion quickly switched his focus back entirely to his father. Tabitha held open her hand and made a large firecracker ball. Sean looked at her furiously, ready to shout. Beast, Moira and Rahne looked mortified, but before any of them could do anything Tabitha hurled the shimmering orb right into the back of Legion's neck. His head jerked back, and she darted over, slamming the inhibitor on his head. Legion bellowed in pain. 

"Why ye little bitch!" He shouted, swirling around to confront her. Charles seized his chance. He dove into Legion's mind, felt the different brain waves, and isolated them. Then he pulled David to the surface, mentally shoving away the other two. As Lucas cried out in agony he looked at Tabitha. "Why?" He asked. 

"Because you father loves you, and you're not giving him a chance," Tabitha said quietly. 

Lucas gave her an infuriated look, was about to say something more but was cut off as he collapsed and turned into David. The boy fell over onto Charles. The professor caught his limp form and looked up at Tabitha, who was watching them intently. Her mind clearly elsewhere. "Moira, Hank, Sean, Rahne? Are you all right?" 

"Fine Charles, now that ye got him under control," Moira informed him. 

Rahne transformed into her human from and ran over to hug Tabitha. "Tabitha, that was so brave of ye! If he had read yer mind he would have figured out what ye were doing. . ." 

"I almost wished he would," Tabitha said, returning the hug. "Maybe he would have understood what I was trying to say then." She sighed. "I mean, it's the holidays. This is the time you're supposed to be with the ones you love and the ones who love you. . . Not trying to blast their minds into jelly." 

Rahne nodded, and they both looked over towards Xavier and his son. Moira walked over and patted the girls gently on the back, leading them out of the house. Sean picked up David and Beast began wheeling Charles outside. Xavier's eyes never left David's pal, gaunt form. It was almost as if while he had been banished away in his own mind he was being sapped of his very life force. 

"I hope I did the right thing," Charles murmured. After a moment he added "I hope he can forgive me." 

Beast patted him on the shoulder. "I'm sure he will Charles. What better season for forgiveness than this one?" 

They made their way to the Blackbird, where They all piled in rather slowly. Beast tapped a little light on the dashboard. "It seems we have a message from Ororo and Logan." He turned it on and Logan frustrated voice resonated over the radio. 

"_Chuck where the fu-_" he began, but his voice was cut off by Ororo. 

"_Charles rogue and Remy are missing. We've been trying to contact you but to no avail. We have reason to believe they're in New Orleans. . ._" 

"_-And they're not honeymooning!_" 

"_Logan-!_" There was a muffled argument. "_Well, we've tried contacting him, now let's head down there- okay? Charles, we'll contact you again once we've found them._" 

The first message cut off and a second one started. 

"_We found 'em Chuck. Gumbo's been knocked silly and Rogue's got a new piece of jewelry that's annoyin' the hell outta me. Get back ASAP. Hank needs to look at the both o' 'em._" 

"_Logan, that was hardly coherent. . ._" 

"_What're you talkin' 'bout 'Ro? That was perfect._" 

"_Let me handle it-_" 

"_What!? I don' get it- you always have a problem with my messages._" 

"_You speak Wolverese. I'll take care of it. Go look in on Rogue and Gambit._" There was some grumbling. Finally Ororo spoke again. "_Rogue's got some power inhibitor wired onto her. Apparently it can only be deactivated safely by a remote control that was destroyed. She also appears to have a concussion and a cold. . . And Remy's got a few broken ribs, and both are covered in bruises and scratches. I have them in bed in the infirmary. I hope everything's all right with you._" 

Hank raised an eyebrow and looked at Charles. "It seems we weren't the only ones with a rather eventful day or so." 

"Apparently not. Once we get back to Muir I have to call Gabrielle. Then you can take the Blackbird back to the mansion, and take care of things there. I'm going to stay here with David for a few more days. . .make sure everything is all right." 

"That sounds like the right idea ta me Charles," Moira said. 

"Aye, a good idea," Sean echoed, looking over at Rahne and Tabitha. Tabitha had been pretty much silent as she got into her chair. Rahne strapped herself in as well and was watching Tabitha with concern playing across her features. Sean strapped himself in, not saying anything. He had doubted the girl ,and she had proved him wrong. He was going to have to apologize later, whether it made sense to her or not. 

* 

A few hours later Hank had patched up Rogue and Remy, though both were told to stay in the infirmary. Rogue, Hank decided, had caught a cold on top of her concussion and he wanted her to stay there until they passed. Hank, Logan and Ororo decided to all go to the Morlock tunnels to bring the excessive amounts of stuff they had purchased down to them. Logan told Remy explicitly to keep his hands off Rogue, otherwise he wouldn't have any hands to put on her. Remy agreed, but mostly out of the fact that sitting up hurt him too much anyway. 

* 

Warren managed to guilt trip his parents into coming home for Christmas eve. They stayed for all of three hours, enough time to ask him a few typical catch up questions, eat a quite dinner at an extravagant restaurant and head off to their flight to Tokyo for a business meeting. 

* 

Kitty and Lance saw each other for a full day after he got out of the hospital. He told her that he would still be on crutches for a few weeks. She wore a skirt to meet him. He nearly fell over and broke his leg again. 

* 

Illyana was reunited with her parents for what seemed to her to be the first time in years, and to them seemed liked weeks. There was a lot of tearful hugs, and Illyana and Peter wound up talking for most of a night explaining everything that had happened to her. Peter also told his family that he had made the football team, and promised to ask the professor to fly them in for a game or two. 

* 

Alex tried unsuccessfully to tech Scott how to surf. Several hours and wipeouts later Scott turned it into a water fight with each boy using their powers to make a bigger wave to splash the other. Size mattered. 

* 

Jean and her parents had a nice little family reunion. They loved the presents from Scott and told Jean that she had to invite him over some time. . . So long as he didn't blow the roof off. They had a hard enough time repairing it the first time Jean's powers manifested. 

* 

Bobby educated his parents on the fine art of making a snowman. His father responded to his criticism by pelting him with a snowball. 

* 

Jubilee sent a long letter home to her family about how much of a good time she was having at Ms. Frost's school. She went on for several paragraphs about Jono, which disturbed them slightly- even after she assured them that he was in full control of his powers. 

* 

David woke up to find both his parents keeping watch at his bedside. This was of course after a few hours of them bickering back and forth. Sean had ended the argument by bellowing over both of them. Charles and Gabrielle were thrilled to see him smile at the both of them, though Charles was a bit surprised when David asked him to say thank you to Tabitha. Tabitha, Rahne and Sean actually had quite a good game of kickball. Sean did apologize, but Tabitha told him she would have not only thought the same thing, but tried to blow herself up is she was in Sean's position. He was grateful. Moira spent a few quiet hours sipping cocoa and reading a trashy paperback romance novel she had picked up at a drugstore. It was the first time she had relaxed in years. Sean's daughter arrived home from boarding school just in time for the holidays. She and Tabitha hit it off rather well. 

* 

Kurt and his adoptive parents had a grand old feast at their house. Kurt stuffed himself silly. Later that night he wondered if Rogue had sent out his card or tore it apart. 

* 

Evan was stunned when Ororo and the others showed up. They were later than they had expected, because Hank hauled them over to one of the side-of-the-road Christmas tree sellers and bought a tree for the Morlocks. They used some of Evan's spikes as Christmas lights and gave out gifts while explaining how they had gotten the tree into the sewers in the first place. 

* 

Magneto turned up at the boarding house after actually driving there. Along the way he had apparently met a man with a Victorian style hairstyle who's car had gotten a flat tire. Erik had helped him out and afterwards the man introduced himself as Dr. Essex, the new principal of Bayville high, now that Kelley had gone on his campaign route. Essex told him to come see him at any time. Magneto later informed the brotherhooders that their present would include not only St. John coming to stay, but they could also be returning to school full time. 

* 

Eventually Rogue pointed out to Remy that hands had nothing to do with lips. 

* 

Irene had foreseen the cards, and even though she was blind knew where to send the one. The one for her she placed up at the mantelpiece. She smiled at it for a while. . . Then had a vision so powerful that she passed out. Neighbors who had seen her collapse through their window called an ambulance. 

* 

Samuel Gutherie returned home to find out that his sister Paige had been given an invite to Ms. Frost's academy in California, since she too was a mutant. Of course she showed him rather than told him what he powers were, and the poor boy fainted when she tore her skin off. 

* 

Jamie and three clones went around singing Christmas carols at an old folks home. They were stunned to see four identical children. . .those of them that could see that well. 

* 

Amara spent a lovely time with her family. She had gotten ill on the plane ride over, but as soon as her feet touched the ground again she was fine. 

* 

Roberto spent his whole vacation tanning so that he could show off to everyone when he returned. 

* 

A rather surprised postman read an address that said _The man in the hat on the corner of the street_, and looked up to see a man fitting that description. Unsure of what to do, but noting that the postage was paid, the postal worker got out of his truck and handed the man (who seemed just as surprised) the letter. After the postal truck had disappeared into the night, The man turned into Mystique, who opened the envelope slowly. Seeing the card inside, she read it several times, then carefully folded it in half and tucked it away somewhere safe. With that done she turned into a raven and disappeared into the night. 

_The End_

Author's Note: Sorry this took so long folks. This has been a rough semester. I really did start this around the Holidays too. Now it's a little out of place. Ah well. Hopefully the next episode will be up sooner. . . But I'm having trouble with my space bar and have about 35 pages of research paper writing to finish before the end of the semester too. And I haven't figured out the title for the next episode. :*(. Though, for all you Summer's family fans it'll bee full of Alex and Scott. . . Much to my dismay :p. But plans are plans. And I'm going to have a lot of fun with the new principal. Heh heh heh. 


	7. Episode 7: Cry Havoc

_Disclaimer: _I don't own any of the characters here. Marvel does. I love the characters and want to date some of the character ( drools over Gambit) but I don't own 'em. 

_Author's note:_ There is an explanation on why this took so long to write at the end of the episode 

_Cry Havoc!_

Alex and Peter were tossing the football around in the backyard, while Scott and Jean watched from the porch. Their hands were twined together, and they were talking casually. Alex tossed a long, fast pass. Peter dove to catch it, and did so just by the skin of his teeth. 

"That was awesome Pete!" Alex shouted. "No wonder the team is going to the semifinals!" He jogged up to the larger teen and gave him a high five. 

"Thank you comrade, but it is teamwork that makes the team great, no?" 

"Yeah, well you're just lucky that Matthews and his crew left last year," Scott chimed in. "There would be nothing to redeem a team with him on it." Jean softly punched him in the arm. "What? He was a jerk and you know it." 

"He's just stupid," Jean said with a sigh. "He's like everyone else who sees something they don't understand- he fears it." 

"Fear breeds hate, hate breeds violence, and then we all go to hell in a fast train," Alex added. He sighed. "I'm glad my foster-parents took it so well that I was a mutant." 

Jean nodded. "My parents handled it well, too." 

Peter nodded as well. "My parents saw it as a blessing. It helped with the farm work." 

"The only thing that really bothers them," Alex added, "is that they can't help me." He rubbed his hands. "Especially when my hands hurt." 

"Hey, I heard that you were talking to the professor and Hank about that the other day," Scot said. "You okay?" 

"Yeah. . . .yeah." Alex rubbed the back of his neck. "My powers have been kinda funky lately. .. Not working, then overworking. . ." He shook his head. "It's been pretty crazy, but it's all good now bro. I got the fireworks under control," he flashed Scott the thumbs up. Scott thought he saw his brother's hands glow for a second, but wrote it off to his glasses playing tricks. 

"How are Rogue and Gambit doing?" Jean asked curiously. "I thought I saw Gambit sneaking around." 

"Yeah, he's doing okay," Alex informed them. "Apparently Rogue's cold has gotten worse, though her concussion has passed. Every now and then Gambit pretends his chest hurts so he can visit her when he isn't supposed to." 

Scott rolled his eyes. "Typical." 

"Comrades, I hev some news," Peter broke in. "I hed almost been forgettink. There is goink to beh a small dance this comink Friday, to celebrate deh team's entry into deh semifinals. It will be for anyone who lives in deh area, a small fee attached, so for to pay for buses." 

"Really? That is news. And Mr. Callighan is going to allow that?" Scott raised an eyebrow. "Last time I checked he didn't want to do any public events at the school because he was too afraid that the mutants would blow everything up." 

"Bro, we have a new, full time, primo man now. Some guy named 'Essex'." Peter tossed Alex the football lightly, and he tossed it up and down. "Kids who've met him say he's actually a decent guy." He tossed the football to Scott. "Get this- he's pro mutant." 

Scott held the football, too distracted by this revelation to do anything else. "What? Whoa, whoa-! How'd he get to be principal then? I could have sworn that the board members would have never let someone pro-mutant in that position. I mean, even after we stopped the brotherhood from tearing up that board meeting, I don't think we made all that great of an impression. . . The exception being your great speech Jean," Scott added quickly as Jean gave him an offended look. 

"Don't ask me," Alex shook his head. "I hear he's a smooth talker though." 

"Figures. We take all that abuse from Kelley, and then the next guy is cool." Scott shook his head, and tossed the football back at Peter. 

"Did anyone notice that we go through principals like Harry Potter goes through Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers?" Jean pointed out. 

Alex paused. "Hmm. . . That would make Darkholm the evil one, Kelley the idiot. . ." 

". . . And Essex deh werewolf?" Peter said in a very confused manner. 

"I was going to say 'the cool one'," Alex said. 

"Moody was cool," Scott interjected. 

"Moody was an evil, traitorous impostor," Alex countered with a sly smile. "Remember?" 

Scott frowned. "Hey, you're not supposed to do that!" 

"Do what?" 

"Show me up!" Scott said, lightly punching Alex on the shoulder. The younger Summers brother laughed. 

"Yeah, well bro, you make it too easy," Alex said. "Ah!" He yelped as Scott lunged for him. The two brothers darted between the benches, trees and other obstacles. 

Jean laughed as she watched Scott finally tackled Alex and the two began to wrestle. Peter sat down next to her with a bemused look on his face. 

"I hev a question," he began, blushing slightly. "I would like to invite. . . Someone from deh institute to deh dance. . ." He dropped his head slightly. "But I am unsure of how. Some customs of America still elude meh." 

"I understand," Jean patted him on the back. "Well, all you really need to do is go up to her, and ask 'Would you like to go with me to the dance?'. It's really that simple." 

"Perhaps not. . ." He murmured. "She's. . . Seeing someone. . ." 

Jean looked at him sharply, worried for a second that he might be talking about her, but he seemed to be really just asking for advice. "Well, in that case find out if she's going with him all ready, and if not ask her if she'd like to go as friends." 

Peter considered this for a moment. "That sounds like a good plan. Yes, in fact, I think that will be perfect." Looking considerable happier, Peter sat and watched as Scott put Alex into a headlock. 

"Ack!" Get off! Get off!" Alex said. Scott responded by messing up his hair. Alex grabbed onto Scott's arm with both hands straining to pry him off.He tried throwing his brother, but Scott knew how to counter it. All those training sessions with Wolverine paid off. Frustrated Alex tugged harder on Scott's arm. "No fair man! You're killin' me here!" 

"You're a newbie _and_ my younger brother. I should be able to beat you with my eyes closed and my arms tied behind my back!" Scott teased him. Alex thrashed a little more. Then suddenly Scott felt like his arms were burning. He let go of Alex immediately. "Hey!" He said indignantly as he noticed Alex's hands glowing. "What's the big deal?" 

"I- I-" Alex stammered, holding his hands out in front of him. "Sorry. . .I don't know. . .what's come over me. . ." He stretched out his hands to their widest. They glowed fiercely. "M- maybe I should go talk to the professor again," he said slowly. "Th- this shouldn't happen. . ." Alex was shaking slightly, willing his powers to fade out, but his hands glowed on merrily. 

"Alex-" Scott's eyebrows raised in worry. "Should I get the Professor-?" 

"No, no!" Alex said quickly. "I- I'll talk to him later," as his hands finally began to turn normal again. "See? It's all cool." He held them up in front of Scott. 

"Alex, you know you can talk to me if you need help, right?" Scott said empathetically. 

"Dude, bro I got it covered, okay?" Alex patted Scott on the back, extra hard to try and knock him over. 

"HEY!" Scott shouted as he nearly toppled over. Whirling around he began chasing after the retreating Alex again. "Get back here!" 

Alex, laughing loudly, tried to drown his own nagging fears and doubts. 

"Well, she's still got some sort of flu," Beast said, scribbling on a pad of paper as he talked to Storm. "And if she doesn't get better soon I think Gambit's 'recurring illness' won't either." 

Storm sighed. "I wish I had let Logan stay home. . . I highly doubt the Rippers would have been able to run off with Rogue if he had been there." 

"Be that as it may, I think everything turned out for the best anyway. Despite being ill she and Remy are taking advantage of the collar when she feels well enough." He chuckled. 

"How is that situation going?" 

"Poorly," Beast admitted. "I've made no progress. I can't get at the inner mechanisms because- as the Rippers so kindly told Rogue and Gambit- any sort of real fiddling with it will make it explode. Xavier scanned it somehow and ascertained that much was true." 

Alex, some time after being made to cry 'Uncle!' in his brother's vice-like grip, was walking down the hallway like some sort of wraith. He wasn't ready quite yet to talk to Xavier, and so steered himself as far away from the Headmaster's office. After turning a corner quietly Alex saw Beast looming in the hallway with Storm next to him. Alex thought that it might be easier to talk to one of them about his problem, and stopped in the hallway, opening his mouth to speak. Neither Beast, who was intent on his scribbling, nor Storm, who was listening to him and glancing at the paper, noticed him. 

"So, how is Evan-?" Beast began, but stopped abruptly as he bumped into something. He heard an 'Oomph!' and nearly dropped his pad. 

"Oh, Alex!" Storm said, more surprised at the expression on Alex's face than at the fact that Beast had knocked him over. "Are you all right?" 

Alex didn't answer, instead he leapt to his feet as if stung. Storm couldn't tell why, until she looked down at the floor. Her mouth dropped open. There were two hand prints burned into the floor. 

Beast, using his usual skill and tact, caught on quickly. He saw Alex's mortified expression, and where Storm was looking and put two and two together without a word. "Perhaps we should take a quick trip to the infirmary," he said quietly, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. 

Alex, still mortified, could do nothing but nod dully. When they arrived it took only a look from Storm to send Remy out of the room so silently that he might not had ever been there. Rogue was fast asleep, twitching every now and then with a fever dream. Storm gently pulled the curtains around her bed to make Alex feel more comfortable. Beast gestured for Alex to sit, which the boy slipped up on almost lifelessly. His hands were glowing faintly and wouldn't stop. Beast pulled on extra large surgical gloves and picked up one of Alex's hands gently. 

"How long have you been having problems?" Beast asked him gently. 

Alex closed his eyes. What was he supposed to tell him? That everything in his room was covered in small burns, most of them hand or finger shaped? That he was too ashamed to admit to the professor that despite all the help he'd been giving Alex that there was no improvement in his power control, and, if anything, it had gotten worse? Or that he didn't want to go to the professor with the nagging thoughts that Magneto had been able to fix his powers, though there were a few side effects, and that the professor hadn't been able to do anything for Scott's powers or Rogue's? He couldn't possibly. "A- a while," he choked out. 

"I see," Beast said, speaking volumes in only two words. Storm watched the boy's expression change over and over, reading the mingling fear and uncertainty. "And I suppose it's been getting increasingly worse, and more frequent over time?" 

Alex nodded in reply. 

"When was the last time you used your powers in excess?" 

"Against Apocalypse." 

"And before that?" 

"When Scott and I nearly drowned." 

"And I supposed the first time was Asteroid M?" 

"Yes." 

Beast nodded. "I'm going to take a blood sample," he said to Alex. "Just a small doctor-like prick on the finger." Alex nodded again as Beast plucked a sterilized needle out of his medical supplies and a minuscule tube with a red line, the type physicians usually used in physicals. A quick prick and a blood sample later Alex found a small Band-Aid, black, with bright yellow happy faces on it, wrapped around his finger. Beast stuck the tube into the clay-like pad made for it. Turning back to Alex he smiled a little. "That should give us a few clues into what's going on." 

Again, all he could get out of the boy was a nod. 

"We're going to have to talk to the professor about this," Storm told Alex. 

Alex looked up at her, worried, but then let his gaze drop once more. 

"It's okay Alex," Beast said, placing a hand on Alex's shoulder. He could read the boy's expression rather well. Judging by what was going on recently he took an educated guess. "You aren't the first person to doubt the professor's methods, trust me." Beast inclined his head towards where Rogue lay. 

Over behind her curtain Rogue mumbled something in her sleep. Alex raised an eyebrow. 

"I'm sure you've heard about her power surge, before Apocalypse was woken up," Beast said quietly, hoping Rogue wouldn't wake. "After Mystique used her to wake him up Rogue flipped out and screamed at the professor for. . . At least two hours straight," Storm nodded in confirmation of the story. She, Logan and Beast had been there. "She went on and on about how if it wasn't for the fact that she knew Magneto would use her just like before she would have switched sides again and gone through his machine in a minute. 'At least then I might have some control,' she shouted at him. Frankly, I've never seen so much color in her cheeks." 

Alex bit his lip. Partially because he wanted to laugh, partially because he knew he felt now the same way that Rogue did then. 

"Of course after she had blown off steam she was all right. She and Jean both had surges, but they're fine now." 

"Rogue doesn't have any more control than she had before," Alex mumbled, "and I haven't always had perfect control like Jean has." 

"There might be something we can do to remedy that situation. After all your brother has his glasses," Beast said. 

"Yeah, but ruby quartz gloves aren't going too allow much movement, and they aren't exactly the easiest fashion statement to pull off," Alex pointed out. 

"This is true," Beast said with a chuckle. "Hopefully it won't come to something as extreme as that." 

Alex was beginning to feel slightly better about his situation. Though Storm still looked dubious about the whole affair, Beast was giving Alex enough reassurance to put him at ease , at least long enough for the glow from his hands to once again dissipate. Knowing that his nagging doubts about the professor wouldn't be the first time Xavier had heard such things, out loud or with his powers also helped a great deal. He felt guilty that he almost wanted to laugh at the idea of Rogue venting some of her infamous anger out on Xavier. 

"So, we'll go talk to the professor, now or later?" Beast asked in an encouraging tone. 

"I guess sooner is better than later, right?" Alex looked up at the two teachers, forlorn. 

Storm smiled, impressed by Beast's quick thinking. No wonder he had been a teacher for so long. He was very good with children, and their fears. 

Beast nodded at Alex, "I would suggest sooner myself." 

"Yeah," Alex said sullenly. "Uh, how about after the dance?" 

Beast and Storm both blinked. "Dance?" Beast said, raising an eyebrow. 

"Yeah, for the football team," Alex said. It was far enough away that he could avoid it for a little bit, but close enough that things shouldn't get any worse. He just wasn't ready to face the professor. "It's this Friday." 

"Well," Beast paused. Alex obviously didn't feel quite ready to talk to the professor, but Friday was close enough that things shouldn't get too out of hand. "All right. But I'm holding you to that. Either Friday night after the dance or Saturday morning- understand?" 

Alex flashed a double thumbs up. "As the doctor orders!" He said, considerably more happy. 

Beast pat him on the back. "We'll have this all sorted out by Sunday, I'm sure. In the meantime, I'm going to take a look at your blood work as soon as I can. I have to go over Rogue's as well." 

Alex nodded, and hopped down to the floor. "Friday then." 

"Yes, Friday," Beast nodded, placing glasses on his nose and looking at a computer readout. "And if you aren't there I'm sending Logan out to find you." 

Alex raised his hands in front of his chest. "No need to do that teach. I'll be there. Promise." 

Storm laughed. "I should think so. Logan does have a certain reputation for being cranky when sent after wayward students." 

Beast, suddenly very interested in the paper readout he was getting, didn't make a further comment, so Ororo sent Alex along. He darted off, relieved. That hadn't been nearly as bad as he expected it to be. 

Ororo turned to say something to Beast, but the look on his face stopped her before she formed the first syllable. "Hank, what is it?" 

"Alex's blood tests have to wait. I need to run some more tests on Rogue _immediatel_y. According to this," He held out the readout, "I may have been severely mistaken when I diagnosed her." 

Peter hovered in front of the door to Kitty and Rogue's shared room. He raised his hand to knock several times, but his nerve failed him. Finally he settled on opening the door a crack and calling in. "Hel- hello?" 

"Oh, like, hey Peter!" Kitty smiled. "C'mon in." Kitty got up and opened the door the rest of the way for him. "I was just finishing up an e-mail to my parents, so gimmie a sec to fire it off, kay?" 

Peter nodded. "Is no problem." 

"Great!" Kitty said. She strode over to her bed, where her laptop lay, and typed for a second, then double clicked. A little voice said "E-mail sent" and then Kitty looked up at Peter. "So, like, what's up?" 

"Uh-" Peter stopped, his mind blank. Then he said quickly to recover, "I was wonderink if you hev seen my roommate?" 

"Gambit?" Kitty said with a confused look. "No. He's probably visiting my roommate down in the infirmary. He's been doing that for, like, a while now. Why? Do you need him for something?" 

"Uh, no, curious, you know." 

"Right. . ." Kitty said a little uncertainly. There was an awkward pause. 

"How is Lance?" Peter asked suddenly. 

"He's okay," Kitty sighed. "But you know, his leg still isn't up to snuff and his arm still hurts. I don't think the Brotherhood boys are really helping him out at all. . ." 

"So I guess he won't beh. . .dancink anytime soon?" 

Kitty raised an eyebrow. "No, he won't be. He doesn't like dancing much anyway. . ." 

Peter rubbed the back of his neck. "In that case, I was wonderink. . . Would you like for to join meh at deh dance this Friday? Deh rest of the team has dates, and I would feel awkward weethout one. . . And you were deh only one I could think to ask. Of course if Lance had been well, I would not hev because that would be rude-" he began turning increasingly red. 

She laughed. "Oh, like, wow, Peter, I had no clue. Yeah, sure. I mean we're just going as friends so, like, where's the harm?" 

Peter let out a great sigh of relief. "Thank you, I was worried you'd refuse. I do not know who else I could possibly ask. Everyone here is- how do you say it- 'paired off'?" 

Kitty laughed. "Yeah, that's true. The dating pool isn't that large for mutant teenagers." 

"I suppose not," Peter said, shrugging. Though Kurt is dating a 'normal' human." 

"Amanda's special," Kitty said. "She thinks being a mutant is special. She thinks Kurt's cuter blue and fuzzy than in his image inducer mode." 

"Very special," Peter agreed. "Perheps I will get to talk to her at deh dance. I hev not had a chance to meet her properly." 

Kitty nodded. "Ask Kurt. He'll be sure to introduce you two." 

Peter nodded, and then found himself at a loss of things to talk about. "I, uh, guess I will see you later. . ." 

Kitty nodded. "We should talk again sometime," she said encouragingly. 

"I would like that," he smiled. "Any idea when I will beh findink my roommate in here again?" 

Kitty frowned. "Not sure. Rogue's been sick for a while, and frankly I'm, like, really worried about it. I've _never_ seen her sick before." 

"Probably all deh un-sickness is just catching up to her, no? I am sure she will be fine." He stretched his arms behind his back. "I will be in deh danger room for a while if you are for to need meh." 

"See you Peter," she nodded. As he left she returned to typing on her laptop. **Sorry about that**, she typed to someone whose screen name read 'PurpleGlow'. **Friend needed to talk.**

**No problem luv. Had to run and fold some laundry anyway**, Purple typed back. **So, seriously, you've met some of the mutants involved in thrashing that bloody robot and blue chap? What're they like?**

**Honestly?** Kitty typed back. **They're pretty much normal teenagers.**

The danger room session for the older students the next night was no cakewalk. Logan was in charge of running the simulation rather then Ororo or Beast, both of whom were occupied with Rogue in the infirmary. 

"How much you vanna bet dhat dhey're really doing something else and Logan's jealous?" Kurt had whispered to Scott before the session had started. 

"Ororo and Beast are good friends. They are not sleeping together. Especially not with the excuse of checking up on Rogue," Scott had replied. 

"Dhat's what dhey _want _you to think." 

At the moment, though, there wasn't much talking, except the occasional cry of 'look out!'. Kurt, Scott, Jean, Kitty, Remy, Alex, Peter, and the new additions to the older team- Tabitha and Bobby- found themselves battling against two life sized sentinel robots. If it wasn't for Kitty slipping through the green goo the robots shot and pulling people out of it they would have failed the mission ages ago. 

Out of all of them the Summers brothers, Boom Boom and Colossus were doing the most damage. Tabitha was constantly making large firecrackers for Colossus to hurl at the Sentinels. Though their armor protected them from the damage to a certain extent they were looking rather worn from the constant explosions. Cyclops was shouting out orders in-between firing precise blasts of optic energy. Havoc was cutting loose, to help himself with all his fears and frustrations. 

One of the Sentinels, who was now being called 'Two-Face' by the group since Nightcrawler had used his talents and one of Gambit's cards to blow half his face plate off, aimed at Havoc and let fly a missile. 

"Bring it on!" Havoc yelled, blasting the missile right back at the Sentinel. It exploded on Two-Face's chest plate, making it stumble back. "How's the elf doing?" He shouted at Cyclops. 

"Not too good, no thanks to Iceman," Cyclops shouted back. "He really smacked into that wall hard when he slid across the floor." 

"I was trying to trip up the Sentinels!" Iceman protested. "How was I supposed to know the blasted things had really good traction?" 

"It doesn't matter much when they can also _fly_," Shadowcat pointed out. She and Remy were watching over Kurt. Remy was tossing cards up at the other Sentinel. 

"_Monsieur_ Tin Man doesn't want to play fair!" Gambit shouted. "Gambit's de only one able to fight an' he don' seen t' want t' pick on someone his own size!" 

Jean used her telekinesis to twist off a lamppost, part of the simulated environment, and hurl it at the Sentinel's leg. It pierced the armor, and the wires and gears within the leg and came out the other side. The Sentinel fell to one knee and for a moment seemed to have a hard time computing what had happened. 

"_Merci_ Jean," Gambit said. 

"No problem!" She called out. 

He charged up the ace of spades. "Now, you're not quite Gambit's height, but dis'll do." He flung his card with deadly accuracy. It went right into the mouthpiece. With a flashing light that exploded from all the orifices in the Sentinel's face it toppled over. Gambit smirked. "Now dat's de way it's-" 

The sentinel got back up to it's feet, face and leg both sparking violently. It was smoking out of its eyes and mouth. It aimed at him and fired out a huge chunk of goo. 

"_Mon Dieu!_" Gambit shouted just before he became encased with the slime. 

"Oh man! I can't just, like, leave Kurt here!" Kitty said frantically. Nightcrawler was showing no signs of stirring. 

"I got it!" Havoc said. He charged up both his hands. 

"Alex, be _careful_!" Cyclops warned. 

"Got it _covered_ bro!" Havoc said irritably. His hands glowed ferociously. 

"Alex, don't-" Jean began, "remember Remy had his ribs broken recently!" 

"I've got it _covered!_" Havoc repeated. He was about to say something scalding when his powers fired without him thinking about it. 

The overwhelming red beam, which would have clearly been a disaster if it had struck, was averted by a large ice shield, courtesy of Bobby Drake. The shield shattered instantly on impact, but it diverted the blast from the encased Gambit. 

"Man, Havoc, watch what you're blasting! Sure, he _used_ to be on the other team, but now he's working with _us_!" Iceman shouted. 

Havoc simply looked at the shattered pieces of ice, horrified. He could imagine them as being pieces of Gambit, strewn everywhere. Maybe Friday wasn't soon enough. 

"LOOK OUT!" Screamed Boom Boom. 

The Sentinel Remy had officially fried was falling over again. It couldn't quite grasp how its motor functions worked any more. It was falling, however, right towards Havoc. He, however, was rooted to the spot. 

"Fear not comrades!" Colossus shouted. He charged towards Alex and the toppling Sentinel and tackled Alex to the ground with the skills of someone who truly deserved to be the football team's MVP. Once Alex was on the ground Colossus stood up and plunged one large fist into the oncoming Sentinel mass. 

Though the others were tied up keeping Two-Face at bay, everyone's attention was really riveted on seeing the outcome of the situation. Suddenly the leg of the Sentinel, which had landed on the two boys, was thrown up and off of them. Colossus pulled out a stunned, but otherwise all right Havoc. Colossus hauled his friend over towards Kitty and Kurt, and deposited him next the limp body of the blue fellow. He then walked over to Gambit, trapped in his stunned, crouching position as he had attempted to protect himself, and picked Gambit up. Colossus left him next to Havoc. "You may free him now, comrade," he said with a nod. 

Havoc shook his head. "No way. I can't. You saw what I nearly did!" He pointed out to the melting pieces of ice. "That could have been bits and pieces of Cajun!" 

"But it was not, comrade," Colossus pointed out. 

"_But it could have been_!" Havoc said hysterically. "I could have blown Gambit to smithereens!" 

Shadowcat shook her head. "Someone watch Nightcrawler," she said irritably, as she phased through the hardened goo and pulled out Gambit. The Cajun shook his head and removed a little gunk from inside his ear. 

"Dat is an experience I'd prefer _not_ to repeat," he said. Gambit looked at the people around him. "Well look at all de happy faces. What? Did I say somet'ing wrong?" 

"It is nothink comrade. We are glad you are in good health," Colossus said. 

Gambit gave them all a funny look. He was going to say something when there was a groan. Nightcrawler sat up slowly, swearing in German. "Vas happened? Did someone get dhe license number of dhat truck?" 

"You took a spill on some of Bobby's ice," Shadowcat explained. She looked at the other Sentinel, the one Gambit had scrambled, and turned to the boys. "I'm making sure Sparky there _doesn't_ get back up. You stay here," she directed Nightcrawler. "Alex, cover me." 

Havoc shook his head. 

"Alex, _get over it_. I need you to cover me in case Sparky gets up. All right?" Shadowcat said irritably. Gambit mouthed 'Get over what?' To Colossus who shook his head in reply. 

"Guys! Incoming!" Cyclops shouted. 

The quartet looked up to see a missile flying right towards them. Suddenly they burst into action. Gambit flung a full hand of cards at it, but that didn't even puncture the missile's covering. Shadowcat made a break for the other Sentinel. Colossus held his ground, ready to slug the missile as it got nearer. 

Finally Alex realized that he couldn't act the way he had been. Shaking off his previous shock he let loose at the missile. He clipped it with a powerful blast, sending it spiraling towards Shadowcat and 'Sparky'. "Kitty! Heads up!" 

Shadowcat, unlike most people, didn't look to see where the threat was coming from. She simply froze in place and phased. The missile landed nearby, showering the surrounding area with chunks of debris and bursting into flames. After things had landed Kitty phased back into solidity. A few man sized pieces of rock now pinned the unmoving Sentinel to the ground. Shadowcat smirked. "Nice job!" She shouted. 

Havoc would have responded if it wasn't for the fact that he was desperately trying to turn his powers off. His hand were glowing ferociously. "Come on, dude, this is so not funny. . ." He murmured. "Come on! I'm the one in control here!" 

Nightcrawler teleported over to pick Shadowcat up and regroup with Jean, Cyclops and the others. Apparently Two-Face was set at a higher difficulty level than Sparky, because even with Boom Boom and Cyclops chipping away at him he wouldn't go down. 

"Kurt, 'port me up," Shadowcat directed. "Maybe I can scramble the thing's circuits." 

Before she got a chance to though, Havoc let it rip. He had to get rid of his excess energy. Without warning a massive red beam tore through Two-Face's chest, leaving him flaring up and sparking. The robot finally shut down and began to topple over onto them, but Jean nudged it with her telekinesis and it flopped over in the other direction. 

"Sheesh, you could have, like, told me you were going to do that," Shadowcat said. 

Havoc didn't seem to hear her. 

"Hey, Alex, nice shot," Cyclops said with a smile. 

"Yeah, you gave de tin man somet'ing to 'member you by," Gambit chimed with a smirk. "Dat is if her 'members anyt'ing at all now." 

Havoc was too focused on his hands which had finally faded. He smiled weakly at his companions. "Eh, I guess I did all right. Dude, that was one awesome training session!" He began smiling. "I dunno though bro," he frowned, looking at Scott. "I don't think I'm ready fro this whole 'training to be a mutant super hero' thing yet. I promised you I'd give it a chance, and though it's been fun. . ." Havoc shook his head, "I don't think I could pull it off under real pressure." 

Jean smiled at Havoc as she removed the headpiece of her uniform. "That's a mature decision Alex. Maybe you'll be ready to join us later." 

"Man, how could you not _love_ this stuff?" Bobby said incredulously. 

Tabitha shrugged. She threw an arm around Alex and smiled. "Don't worry too much about it kid," she winked. "If you don't want to be a hero, you could always bat for the other team. The Brotherhood is always looking for members." 

"Uh," Alex blushed slightly, "no thanks." 

She rolled her eyes. "You goody-goody Summers." Then she blew a kiss in his direction and proceeded to head out of the Danger Room, following Gambit and Kurt who were conversing in low tones about Rogue's condition. 

Alex stared after her, struck by the same speechlessness that often followed one of Tabitha's short speeches. Cyclops finally burst into laughter at the sight of his brother's befuddled expression. Clapping a hand on Alex's shoulder the older Summers brother smiled. "You two make a cute couple," he joked. 

Alex was speechless. 

"Yah goin' with Pete? T' th' dance?" 

"Yeah," Kitty said, smiling at her weak-looking roommate. "Too bad you're still stuck in bed. You and Remy could have gone." 

"Ah don' really like doin' school dances anymore," Rogue mumbled, closing her eyes. "'S where mah powahs manifested, 'member?" 

"Yeah, like, that must of been a bummer." 

Rogue moved her shoulders in an attempt to shrug. 

They both turned as the heard a loud 'Ahem,' from the corner. Beast had entered the infirmary. 

"Oh, hey doctor McCoy," Kitty smiled. "Uh, should I leave?" 

"No need Kitty," Beast said. "I'm more than able to take a little blood with you here. Still, don't stay too long. Rogue needs rest." 

"I bet," Kitty murmured. Rogue had fallen asleep in the few seconds she hadn't been talked to. "Is she going to be all right?" 

The glare of the infirmary lights on his glasses hid most of his expression. "Yes. She'll be fine Kitty." Beast sighed mentally. He hated to say that without being sure. 

With that said, Beast bent over to take some blood from Rogue when a blue-white disk appeared and Illyana came stagger through. Kitty blinked, as Illyana shouted something in an inhuman language and fire crackled back in the hole before it closed. Her arm was hanging down at her side, her face was covered in soot and sweat and she looked slightly worse for wear. 

"Demons," Illyana mumbled. "You don't keep 'em in line and they walk all over you. Or try to eat you." 

Beast and Kitty stared at her. 

"Sorry," Illyana said. "Was I interrupting something? I thought teleporting here would be the best thing since my shoulder's dislocated. . ." 

"Since, like, when have you taken up visiting that place? I thought you, like, wanted nothing to do with it?" Kitty had taken a liking to Illyana since she had gotten there. Illyana almost seemed like a cross breed between Dani, Rogue, and Pete. They hadn't had much time to converse. Apparently Illyana had only recently overthrown the lord of Limbo, and needed to establish herself as the sorceress supreme. She was always disappearing and reappearing in the oddest of places. Time also was warped. Though it was never the years-to-days ratio that had turned her from an innocent ten-year-old to an experienced 16-year old sorceress and skilled mutant, she did have some time problems. She had to hide from herself for three days to avoid massive confusion, and bunked with Kitty since Rogue was in the infirmary. 

"Sometimes you have to deal with the things you want nothing to do with the most," Illyana said. She yelped as Beast popped her arm back into place. "Ow!" 

"You shouldn't go on any escapades until that arm is healed _at least_," Beast informed her. "Now you two run along, I'm going to take care of Rogue." He tossed Illyana a small bottle of painkiller. "Take two of these every six hours. It should ease the pain." 

"Thank you," Illyana nodded. Kitty and Illyana strolled down the hallway. Illyana made her soul sword vanish and cast a sly look in Kitty's direction. She smirked. "So, Pitor asked you to the dance?" 

Kitty nodded. "Why?" 

"No reason," Illyana said. She winced as she tried to move her arm and her expression turned dark. "That place will be the death of me," she murmured. 

"Why do you keep going back?" 

"I just have to. Why do you act as a hero?" 

Kitty sighed. "I understand. Sort of." 

They walked on in silence for a while, then Kitty piped up again. 

"Why'd Pete invite _me_ to the dance? I mean, he could have, like, invited. . ." Kitty paused. Jean was dating Scott, Jubilee and Rahne were gone. . . Who was there still? Oh, right, "Tabitha." 

Illyana let out a loud 'Ha' of laughter. "As charming as Tabitha is, she is not my brother's type. Besides. . . I think Pitor thinks she had her eye on someone else." 

Kitty's eyes widened. "_Really_? Like who?" 

"No information for you here gossipmonger," Illyana wagged a finger using her good arm. "You'll just have to wait and see." 

"Awwwwwwwwwwww. . ." Kitty sighed. "Hey, you should, like, come to the dance." Upon seeing Illyana skeptical look she launched straight into an attempt to convince her. "There are plenty of guys here that aren't really all that bad. Like Beserker. Or Roberto. . ." 

"I'll think about it," Illyana promised. "But that's no guarantee." 

Kitty smiled. "You'll be there, I can just feel it." 

Friday seemed to take forever to come. Alex had spent the past day or so dodging all the teachers except Logan. Logan didn't know the situation, and that meant he was safe ground. He might not be for long though. Alex was straining to keep control over his power. After the training session he had had a day of almost problem-free powers control, but that was about it. He couldn't just let loose in his room or on school grounds. Alex knew that could result in someone getting hurt. . . Or worse. Like Gambit almost had been. 

"Hey surfer dude!" 

Alex whipped around, nearly jumping out of his skin. It was only Tabitha, but after that reaction she was staring at him in such a way she might as well have been Beast, doctoral concern and all. 

"You okay wave boy?" 

"Y- Yeah. You just startled me for a moment." 

A frown fluttered briefly across Tabitha's face, then cleared rapidly. "You going to the dance tonight?' 

"I, eh, might be," Alex shrugged. 

Tabitha grinned. "Might be? Why wouldn't you?" 

Alex, rubbing his hands, sighed. 'I'm afraid of blowing something up' didn't quite feel like something he wanted to admit so he settled for something a little less extreme. "I don't have a date." 

"That's _it?_ Is that why you're acting so weird lately?" Tabitha smacked her forehead. "Boy, you Summer's sure have to keep up appearance don't you? Look, I'll go with you, and you can hook up with someone there, okay?" 

"I don't want to hook up with anyo-" Alex stammered. 

Tabitha pinched his cheek. "Chill, surfer dude." She winked. "I've gotcha covered." 

"Somehow that doesn't reassure me. . ." 

Tabitha laughed. "You heard too much about my time with Legion, didn't you?" 

Alex gave her a funny look. "Huh?" 

"Never mind," Tabitha shook her head and patted him on the back. "If you don't want to hang with me, then I think I've got just what the doctor ordered for you." 

Thinking about what Dr. McCoy probably wanted Alex mumbled "Somehow I doubt that." 

Tabitha ignored the comment, or didn't hear it, but either way she said nothing and left him standing in the hallway. He continued walking and passed Kitty and Tabitha discussing something in quick, quiet words. Suddenly he felt very unsafe. 

"There's the man of the hour!" Tabitha said, grabbing him as he tried to discreetly pass them. "Guess what? Kitty and I have worked out your date problems!" 

Verrrrrrrrrry unsafe. 

Alex looked back and forth between the two. "Does the _girl_ know about this yet?" 

"Not quite yet," Kitty admitted. "Gimmie a second." 

Kitty phased through the floor, and reappeared a few minutes later toting a very confused Illyana. "What do you mean found me a date?" Illyana said as soon as her mouth was visible. 

"Viola!" Tabitha said with a smirk. "Now neither of you has any reason _not_ to go to the dance!" 

Alex and Illyana looked each other over. They hadn't met formally, but that was because Illyana had hardly met _anyone_ formally. Alex smiled nervously, then, after glancing at his hand quickly, held it out to shake. 

"I'm Alex. Scott's little bro, you know. You're- Illyana, right?" Alex asked. "Pete's sister?" 

Illyana nodded, taking his hand and shaking it. "Yeah," she said, eyeing Kitty skeptically. "I've seen you around. Though I don't think we've ever actually talked." 

"It's a big house," Alex shrugged. "People could walk around for weeks and never see each other, let alone talk." 

Illyana smiled. "Very true." 

Tabitha clapped them both on the back. "So Kitty and I will leave you two alone to get to know each other, all right?" She winked at Alex and threw an arm around Kitty. "C'mon, let's raid the fridge. I heard that Dr. McCoy made a chocolate mousse cake." The two girls walked down the hallway, tittering loudly. Illyana watched them go. Alex looked at her. 

"They're not very subtle when they're trying to set people up, are they?" Illyana said amused. She looked at Alex, offering up a smile. He smiled back, though Illyana noticed a slight hesitation. 

"No, they really aren't." Alex sighed. "But, seriously, it's totally cool with me if you wanna just, you know, skip this." 

"Are you kidding? We'd both get strung up by our ears by those two if we don't go now!" Illyana laughed. "I mean, we might as well. There's no harm in it, is there?" 

_Maybe not in your case_, Alex thought, but he nodded. Illyana didn't have the potential to blow the roof off the building, and the lack of control that might very well cause it to happen. "Sounds. . . Cool." 

"You look ill. Do I have a piece of demon stuck to me or something?" Illyana checked her clothes. "I didn't think there was any one me, and Kitty didn't mention it. . ." 

"No! No, nothing like that. I'm just feeling, nervous. I'm a surfer, you know, not a dancer," Alex confessed with a shrug and a smile. It was true. At see he could 'dance' on the water, but on land he had the approximate reaction of a land bound fish: he flopped around uselessly. It came on living on a group of islands. 

"If it makes you feel any better," Illyana said, starting to walk in the opposite direction Kitty and Tabitha had gone, "I'm not much of a dancer either. I didn't have much time for that between learning the dark arts and fighting demons." 

Alex blushed a little. "Eh, guess not." 

Illyana chuckled at his expression. "You know, it's been a while since I've been able to laugh so much with anyone. I suppose I'll be seeing you later?" 

"Yes," he said. "Should I stop by you room around, let's say, seven-thirty?" 

"Sounds like a plan. See you then Alex." She turned down another hallway and gave him a little wave. Alex found himself smiling and suddenly it didn't seem like doom was lurking around the corner. 

Despite being give a fairly wide berth anywhere they walked in the dance hall, the majority of students, and teachers, from the Xavier Institute were having a very good time. Jean and Scott hadn't stopped dancing all night. Ororo had insisted upon going, and oddly enough, Hank and Logan got into a bit of a fight over who would go with her. It was settled with a coin toss, which Hank won, and then he realized that he wasn't comfortable going out with an inducer, or as his furry self to a crowded dance. Logan promised to take photos for him, and was genuinely remorseful that he had won that way. 

The older students were all there (sans Rogue and Gambit), as were Bobby (alone), Tabitha (also alone though she hooked up with some jock later on), and Amara and Roberto together (much to some folk's surprise). The dance was held in the high school gym, and everything was being overseen by Dr. Essex. 

Alex and Illyana had hardly noticed the loud music. Instead they were trading stories about being younger siblings to the 'heroes' of the family. They were in the middle of trying to compare who knew the most embarrassing story about their older sibling when Illyana stopped short and stood rigid. 

"What's going on? What's wrong?" 

Illyana turned to him, very pale, and grabbed his arm. "We have to move. Away from the gym." 

"What? Why?" Alex looked at her frantically. His panic was bringing his power to the surface. 

"Trust me!" 

Alex nodded. They left the gym through back door, leading into the high school. Illyana hadn't been transferred into the high school yet. Her parents and Xavier were home schooling her until she could be brought up to where she should be age-wise. Technically Illyana knew more than they did, but not much of it was academic. 

As she pulled him along down the hallways she said, "Did your brother ever mention some sort of portal here in the school?" 

"There was a time when Kurt slowed down his teleportation and it opened some rifts into another world. Scott also mentioned Kurt and Forge got caught in a pocket dimension somewhere nearby. In the basement or something," Alex said without asking why. Illyana's expression turned from worried to grave in a flash. 

"One of the rips in the dimensional fabric must not have sealed properly. Presumably the basement area. Pocket dimensions are tricky little devils. The fluctuation in the space-time continuum must have overlapped the two rips," She was slowly developing magical armor on her body, and she drew her soul sword. "My presence nearby only compacted the situation. Shit! I _hate_ demons. 

"Wait, I think I caught most of that, but what does it _mean_?" Alex said. He was afraid of the answer. "Your presence compounded _what_? And _why_ are you mentioning demons?!" 

"My presence compounded the want of the demons to escape. They know me and many of them want to slay me. They're pushing through the rip, trying to get out." 

Alex stopped dead. Illyana, who had been pulling him also stopped short. She looked back at him. "What's the matter?" 

"Shouldn't we get the others? Why're we plunging into this _alone_?" Alex said. "They can help! Your brother and mine, Jean and Kurt-" 

"We can't. We have to find the breach in the dimension fabric and seal it, then destroy whatever demons may have escaped, and that means we have to do it fast otherwise there'll be too many for the entire team to handle. And before you ask, no I can't just teleport them there. It wound cause another fracture of the dimensional fabric and we'd really be done for." 

Alex began following her again, but an icy hand had wrapped around his heart. He was going to admit to Illyana that his powers weren't stable at the moment, and he would be a better help if he ran to get the others. However in the half second after Illyana had laid out the situation in black and white his mouth had gone dry and his vocal chords froze up. He watched the look on Illyana face slowly grow more determined and more frantic by the second. She seemed to know exactly where she was going. Part of her connection to the mysterious world of Limbo, he was sure. Finally they came to a door. Illyana opened the door and flung Alex in, Then using her magic she shut the door and sealed it with a magical ward that Alex could tell wasn't going to let _anything_ in or out. 

"Are you mad? We'll be trapped in here!" Alex shouted. "With them! And no _backup!_" 

"I'm sure we can handle it. You've got a lot of power, and I can help you redirect it. . ." 

Alex nearly screamed in panic, "_My powers are out of control!_" 

Illyana's face was expressionless for a long moment. Then she said, with traces of bitterness in her tone, "Well, that would have been good to know beforehand. There's nothing we can do about it now. Either we will triumph or we will suffer eternally." 

"There's no other option?" Alex said quietly. 

"There never is," Illyana replied darkly. "Not when it comes to demons." 

Almost before she had finished the sentence Alex saw red fire emerge flash in the air in front of them. The creature that came through the rip did not look at all like the small raptors Scott had described to him. This thing was huge, with six glowing eyes, four arms, and a tail that looked like it could impale six full grown men at once. It had more horns, spikes, teeth and claws than Alex could imagine on one creature. All the demon's eyes fixated on him and Illyana. Alex's heart began hammering in his chest. Illyana held out her sword threateningly. 

"Go back where you came from monster!" She bellowed, white light shooting from her sword. 

The demon snarled as the light twisted around him. It struggled against the bonds, but they held fast. Illyana was clearly pouring all her magical strength, but the demon appeared to be winning. Alex grabbed Illyana's shoulder. She was the only one who could seal the portal. She couldn't be caught up fighting one demon, or they would have many more to contend with. 

"Illyana! I've got it!" Alex shouted. His hands began to glow with a sudden fierceness. "Do whatever to seal the portal!" 

Illyana looked at him, nodded slowly and released the demon. It lunged at her, but Alex blasted it instinctively. While it was distracted Illyana skirted around it and directed her attention to the growing portal. 

The demon rounded on Alex, furious. It roared its displeasure. **_Mortal creature!_** It snarled, **_You DARE to attack me? Only the sorceress supreme of Limbo has a chance at defeating my brethren or myself. You are a mere ant- AND I WILL CRUSH YOU!_**

"Dude, you sound just like every villain in every movie ever made," Alex said. His power shot forth of its own accord, hitting the demon squarely in the chest. It staggered back. Two of its eyes stayed focused on Alex, while the other two observed the spot where he was hit with mild shock. 

**_What power is this?_** The Demon hissed. His chest was, for lack of a better term, boiling. Steam was pouring from it. **_You. You manipulate light somehow._**

"Part of my powers," Alex said, confidence flowing into him. "What, am I too hot for you?" 

The demon shrieked its rage and lunged at him. It was much faster than Alex thought it would be. He just barley dodged it in time. He caught the barest of glances of Illyana sealing the portal as quickly as she could, then turned to face his opponent. The demon's eyes glowed fiercely. All of its arms swiped at Alex at once. He blasted two away from him, but the remaining raked across his chest. 

Alex screamed. Though the demon had just barley scratched him it felt like his chest was exploding with fire. The demon, sensing this moment of weakness, charged full force. Alex held out his arms to block the onslaught and his power rushed out, without warning and without mercy. The demon changed direction far too late. The blast engulfed half of its body, making it boil and steam and melt. Two of the arms were lengthening stumps, dripping to the floor. The eyes on one side of its body were steamed shut. The damage he had inflicted on the demon, however, was not Alex's immediate concern. Nor was his own burning wounds. The part of his blast that had missed the demon had scorched the whole basement and knocked Illyana straight into a wall. She lay there unmoving as the portal, only partially sealed, began to expand again. 

The demon saw the helpless Illyana and made a beeline for her, wishing to finish her off first. Its injuries slowed it and Alex, who realized its intent, was able to get to her first. The smell of burning demon flesh was almost too much for him to take. Alex held up both hands again. He made sure that the demon was sure to be in the path of his power, along with the portal, and squeezed his eyes shut, willing all his power to go foreword. Illyana stirred just in time to throw her hands over her eyes before red light filled the room. 

In the gym everyone paused as the floor shook slightly and a rumble drowned out the music. It only lasted a few seconds, but it left everyone talking for a wile afterwards. Everyone began looking at the Institute folks oddly. Logan began to look suspicious and Ororo waved all the students over to her. 

"Is everyone here?" Logan grunted. 

"I think so-" Jean began. 

"My brother. . . Where's Alex?" Scoot said looking around frantically. 

"And Illyana!" Peter said frantically. 

Kitty and Tabitha shot surprised looks at each other. Tabitha mouthed 'Do you think they're making out somewhere?' Kitty shrugged. 

"Maybe they left early?" She offered. 

"Everyone's supposed ta check out with me or 'Ro before they leave," Logan grunted. 

"Then where could they be?" 

"Dunno." 

Scott and Peter looked equally worried. "I vill go look for dhem," Kurt offered. 

"We might lose you too elf. If you're goin' anywhere you're takin' me along." 

Ororo held up a hand. "We all brought our communicators, did we not? We shall simply call them." 

Scott had his out in an instant. "Alex? Alex are you there?" He said into it. 

Illyana's head was pounding. The basement has certainly seen better days. There was evaporating demon flesh over everything, most of which had been destroyed by Alex's blast of energy. Alex was passed out on the floor. Illyana saw the portal. It was much smaller than it had been, but it was still there and still a danger. By the looks of it though, Alex's blast had gone through the portal and taken care of most of the nearby demons while frightening the others off long enough. Illyana sealed the portal with a few choice words, and lifted the seal on the door. 

She heard a voice behind her and turned, expecting to see Alex getting up, but he wasn't. Illyana walked over to his limp form and heard "Alex are you there? Speak to me bro!" Realizing that it was Scott on his communicator Illyana scrambled for hers. 

"Scott? It's Illyana. Alex and I are in the basement. There was a bit of a problem we had to take care of." 

Scott's voice came in over the communicator several octaves higher in panic. "What happened to Alex? Is he all right?" 

"He's okay, I think. He nearly wiped out the whole basement with his power, so I think he's just drained. Can Kurt get us? I would teleport us out of here but I'm almost as drained as your brother," Illyana said as she began to feel her aches full force. She vaguely remembered being blasted by Alex herself. 

"He'll be down in a second. From the sound of it he's going to need to teleport you straight to the infirmary." 

"Yeah," Illyana said, laying back against the wall, her sword resting on her lap. "That would be a good idea." Her armor faded and she began to close her eyes. "Take your time. We're not going anywhere." 

Several hours later Alex woke up. His head was throbbing with pain, and when he opened his eyes he saw that his hands and lower arms had been bandaged. He rolled over slightly and saw Illyana sleeping. 

"Welcome back to the land of the living Alex." 

Alex sat up slowly and smiled at his brother weakly. "Nice to see you too bro. Aw, man, it feels like I've had my brain reconstructed. How long have I been out for?" 

"Three hours. Just a little longer than Illyana," Scott said. "Though it looks like she's going to beat you now." 

Alex nodded. "She's okay, right bro?" 

"Yes." Scott looked at his brother, sat down on the edge of the cot and said, "Alex, why didn't you tell me you were having power problems?" 

"I- I was too afraid to bro. I mean you've got perfect control and -" 

"Perfect control?!" Scott shook his head. "Since _when_? Have you _seen_ me without my glasses on _ever_?" 

"Oh," Alex murmured. "I guess that makes sense, but dude at least you had, you know, something you could use to _stop it_. I nearly killed Gambit, remember?" 

"Yeah, I do. That isn't the point though. The point is I'm your brother and no matter _what_ happens you should e able to talk to me about it. Promise me that next time you will." 

Alex nodded solemnly. "I promise Scott." 

"Good," Scott said, ruffling his younger brother's hair. "I'm always lookin' out for you kiddo. Remember that." 

Beast came over, adjusting his glasses. "Well, I see you've recovered fairly well." He patted Alex on the head. Alex looked a little sheepish. 

"I probably shoulda checked in earlier, huh?" 

Beast smiled. "I shouldn't have let you go another week without making sure things were fixed. Be that as it may, I have figured out the problem." 

"You have?!" Alex said astonished. "How?!" 

"It's actually quite simple. You power is solar based. When you are in sunlight you absorb the energy you need to use your abilities, and then channel it later. Similar to your brother. Theoretically your powers should be equal and cancel each other's out. However," Beast took his glasses off and began wiping them clean, "despite the fact that you know of your abilities you haven't been using them in excess. That is you haven't gone out to practice with them every day, like Scott does." 

"My adoptive parents didn't really like the idea of me firing off energy beams outside or inside so I tried to keep it to a minimum," Alex agreed. "I mean if anyone found out it would be rough for all of us." 

"True. The problem is, however, that all that energy is building up, and you have no way of directly blocking it, like your brother does. Without letting out a decent amount each day you are becoming 'overloaded' for lack of a better term. You go out, you absorb energy, and then it sits there. Finally you got to the point where you absorbed far too much." Beast slapped his hands together loudly, making Alex and Scott jump. "BAM! It started coming out on its own." 

"So all I have to do is let some out?" Alex said, astounded that it could be that simple. 

"I've all ready arranged with the professor for you to start having target practice of some sort every day. That way you burn off your excess energy," Beast smiled. 

"Dude, that's awesome! Thanks Dr. McCoy. I didn't realize that my problem could be that easy to solve," Alex breathed a sigh of relief. 

"I wish everyone's problems were that easy to solve," Beast murmured. His tone and the slight flutter of his eyes were all the boys needed to realize he was talking about Rogue. "I've run just about every test I can," he elaborated, "and I can't figure out why she's deteriorating this way." 

"Deteriorating?" Echoed the brothers. "She's gotten worse?" Scott said, with great concern for his friend. 

"By the hour," Beast murmured. "I can't hide it any longer. I've got one of the machines processing a DNA sample now. If that doesn't answer some questions, nothing will." 

The brothers watched the troubled doctor walk away. Scott and Alex looked at each other dubiously. "What could be wrong with her?" Alex asked. 

"I don't know." 

"Wrong with who? Me?" Alex and Scott turned to see Illyana sitting up on her cot. "I needed a helluva lot of rest. Sealing a portal that big isn't exactly a walk in the park. Especially after you've been nearly toasted by your own team mate. Which, by the way, I have to thank you for," She nodded towards Alex. "You fried those baddies good. Without you we'd all be dead." 

"Though you'd be short a backache," Alex pointed out. 

"And a soul," Illyana retorted. "You did good Alex. Thank you." 

Alex blushed slightly. "You're welcome." 

A day later, everything had been more or less sorted out. Alex and Illyana were back on their feet. The dance had been a success, and if anyone had noticed the ruined Bayville basement there were no comments made about it. Tabitha and Kitty had stopped annoying Alex and Illyana respectively, seeing as Alex and Illyana had been spending a bit more time together anyway. Scott had been on pins and needles since Beast had revealed the truth about Rogue's condition and he'd been waiting for the bombshell to drop all afternoon. 

Finally it did. 

Xavier called in all the senior students into his office. Kurt, Jean, Scott, Kitty, Peter, Warren and Remy knew it was serious when they saw that Beast, Storm and Logan were all ready there. Storm was trying her best to look impassive, but her eyes betrayed her. Logan's countenance looked as if it had been chiseled into marble, and yet he still looked devastated. Beast and Xavier wore the same expression, though what it was, none of the students could put their fingers on. 

When they had all entered the room Ororo used a zephyr to close the door. Xavier straightened up. Logan moved from his spot mechanically and stood behind the students. Beast looked at the professor and they nodded slightly to each other. 

"I have called you here because there is something you must know," Xavier said slowly. "We have run several tests on Rogue to diagnose her illness to no avail. A few hours ago our last test finally gave us results." He looked over at Beast. 

"As you all know Rogue has been under the influence of the power-suppressing collar for some time now. To suppress a mutant power the collar uses energy to 'turn off' certain parts of a mutants genome," Beast swallowed, tweaked his glasses, and sighed deeply. "Also you all know Rogue's power. She absorbs psyches and abilities. In order to absorb a mutant ability, however, her DNA has to mutate to allow for that power. It always stays altered, thought the altered genes are dormant." He had to place the papers he had been holding down on Xavier's desk. "A tiny part of Rogue's powers allowed her body to accept the altered DNA as her own, normal DNA. Now that her powers are suppressed this is no longer possible. Her immune system is. . . It's. . . It doesn't realize that the altered DNA is Rogue's own. Her own antibodies are fighting to destroy her. She's dying." 

The shock hit everyone in an anguished wave. Kitty began crying hysterically, and Kurt numbly wrapped his arms around her, too stunned to grieve himself. Jean couldn't move, and Scott staggered under the weight of the news. Peter and Warren stared at each other, each becoming a lifeline to the other. Remy, however, went white as a sheet. Logan moved forward to grab him in order to make sure he didn't do anything wild, but he simply slid down limply to his knees, whispering "_Non. Non._" 

"It simply comes down to this," Xavier murmured. "We have some time to try and figure out how to get the collar off of her. If we cannot. . . I am going to attempt to preserve her mind in mine, intact, under a sort of stasis. We will then put her body in suspended animation until we _can_ remove the device safely. It is the only way. I wanted you to hear this, together, and know that we are here for you, and know that more than ever Rogue is going to need you and your support. I did not wish to tell the younger students at this point, but it was unfair of us to keep it from you when you may have- very little time left." 

Outside, oblivious to the devastating news, Alex walked along, relieved that everything appeared to be heading down a brighter path. 

_The End_

_Author's explanation: _You may be wondering why this story took so god-awfully long to put up. There was some writer's block involved, yes. There was some laziness involved, yes. The biggest problem, however, was much more evil: Laptop death. 

I love my laptop fiercely. I use it all the time. I really started getting pissed off when I thought the AC adapter gave out on me. I got a nice new one and it worked awesome for some time. Then funky things started happening. By the time I was done with finals I knew the problem lay with my laptop, not the adapter. As it turns out the prong that transmitted the power from my ac adapter ti my laptop had broken. It took me forever to get it to a guy to check it out. When it all came down to it I had to buy a new laptop about three weeks before I had to be back at school get most of the brain from my old laptop transferred over, and by that time work had killed all my creative juices. Why? You work an 8 hour shift at customer service during your busiest season of the year and try to be nice to people you just want to smack silly 5 days a week and see how your creative juices fare. 

So, though it is much delayed, you have episode 7. I'm sorry if it seems weak. My creative juices were still recovering for most of it. To make it up to you Episode 8 will be that much better. I also have some good news to longtime fans of Season 5. Even when I'm done with Season 5 I DO plan on doing as Season 6. In fact I'm so excited about some of the ideas I've worked out teeny bits of scenes all ready. 

Thank you to all the diehard fans, old and new, of season 5. I _promise_ that episode 8 will be up WAY sooner than this one was and it will be much better. I have the whole thing plotted in my mind. Don't worry, the Rogue subplot will be finished one way or another in the next ep. I wouldn't leave you hanging that badly. However the next episode is brotherhood-centered. 

Oh, there's also a sick twist that's going to have your head spinning at the end and change life in Bayville for a good long time- at least well into Season 6. 

Now that I've whetted you appetite I hope you all stick with me. Even if it seems like this roller coaster has been derailed it's back on track an totally ready to throw you for a loop. 

A reminder- you can always check my profile for info on what the current plans for Season 5 are. 

Thank you all and again, my apologies on the delay, 

Caitlin/ Kare-San 

P.S. Forgive me grammar mistakes and the like. I did not proof read this throughly, so if some words are mxed up (b/c they are spelled similar) please forgive me. I wanted to get this up as soon as I was done with it. 


	8. Episode 8: We Didn't Start the Fire! It ...

_Disclaimer, yet again: Don't own the characters, wish I did. Want to work for Marvel. You can judge by this whether you think I should or not._

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_We Didn't Start the Fire! _

_(It Was HIM!)_

"This place is such a bloody 'ole," Pyro whined, shaking his head. "I can't believe the boss is forcing me t' live with these ruddy gits." He looked up at the boarding house looming above him. On the outside it didn't look so bad, it almost looked majestic. On the inside he knew it was falling apart. Almost everything was broken or rotten. What wasn't was well on its way to being one or the other. Despite the fact that Pietro was supposed to 'whip the Brotherhood into shape' in the name of his father he didn't appear to care all that much. "Couldn't whip cream," Pyro scowled. "Even if you gave it to 'im in a bloody can." 

His uniform was concealed by a long black raincoat, and flame-thrower equipment was carefully disguised as a large hiking backpack. He had gotten very funny looks on the walk over. Pyro had been sorely tempted to get on a bus, but the terrorism/mutant panic would have only gotten him arrested. Not only was he a mutant, but long coats and large backpacks made you a suspect no matter what ethnicity you were. "Plus," he grumbled to himself, "the buggers woulda 'eard an accent an' gone bonkers." He finally got up to the door and started pounding on it. "'Ey, you in there! Open up!" 

The door opened suddenly. Pyro nearly pounded in Pietro's face accidentally, but the young speed demon moved well out of the way. "St. John?" Pietro said incredulously. "Whatthehellare_you_doinghere?" 

"Nice t' see you too, mate," the Australian said, throwing his coat and 'backpack' at Pietro. "Your Da' sent me. 'E's trying t' get all 'is loverly little protégés in one place." Glad to be wearing only his flamboyant uniform again, Pyro extended his hands and shot out a small jet of flame at Pietro. Pietro yelped, skirted to one side, and watched as the flames engulfed the fake backpack and the coat. 

"Are you CRAZY?" Pietro exploded. "Don't shoot that thing off in the house! You'll set the whole place on fire!" 

"Bah, it'd probably be an improvement." Pyro waved it off. "Got any tucker? I'm so hungry, if I don't eat, I' gonna cark it." 

Pietro raised an eyebrow. "You're going to _what_?" 

"Ruddy Americans," Pyro rolled his eyes. "D'ya 'ave any _food_?" 

"Yeah," Pietro said. "If Blob hasn't eaten it all." 

"Dude, what the heck's going on?" Lance said irritable from the top of the stairs. "I'm trying to sleep!" He looked down, saw Pyro, and flipped out. "What's that lunatic doing here? I just got _out_ of the hospital! I do NOT want to be going back _in_ any time soon!" 

Pyro muttered, "Drongo," under his breath. "If I wanted to mess you up Lancey-boy, I woulda done it all ready. So - _piss off_." 

"Your manners lead me to believe you were born in a barn." 

Pyro turned, a grin cracking across his face. "G'day Wanda," He bowed over slightly. Pietro and Lance looked at him in disgust. Wanda, on the other hand, looked like she didn't know whether to ignore it or burst out laughing. "Your Da' sent me with some news." 

"News? Fathersentnews? _Whydidn'tyoutellmethisbefore_?" Pietro burst out. 

"If you're gonna yabber mate, do it in EnglishDon't make that 'igh pitched squeal you call talking," Pyro said with a scowl. 

"Why don't you talk in English!?" Pietro demanded. He counted off on his fingers. "Cark it, drongo, yabber, Idon'tunderstandawordyou'resaying!" 

"That's because ya skull's too bloody thick an' ya uncultured mate," Pyro scowled back. "I'm starvin'. Get me some food an' I'll tell you what your Da' wants you t' know, deal?" 

Pietro was about to agree when Wanda snapped "No deal. News first, then you get fed." 

"Now, luv, see here. I'm exhausted. I've been trekkin' around this 'ole bloody town all day. If I don't get something t' eat I may just pass out-" 

"And if you don't tell us right now," Wanda's hands began to glow blue, "you'll wish you _had_ passed out." 

"Ace! Right, then, ya Da' wanted you t' know that you've all been officially re-enrolled in Bayville high. Starting this Monday you lot are all full time students again, sans Pietro and you Wanda," He nodded towards the twins, who were both regarding him with dark expressions. "Since you all ready graduated Pietro, you don't need to go back, and since you were never enrolled in the first place Wanda, your Da's gonna be 'ome schooling you." 

"I thought we were permanently suspended," Lance said. "Kelley totally threw us out." 

"Yeah, but there's a new bloke runnin' the show called 'Essex'. The big boss worked it all out with him all ready," Pyro said with a grin. "So you lot better get ready." 

Without waiting for any responses Pyro proceeded to the kitchen. Blob had been making a large meatball and pastrami sub for himself. While his back was turned to get some mustard, Pyro stole half of the sandwich, toasted the bun with his power, and sat down to eat it. 

"Hey! What's going on?" Blob said, turning around. "What's _he_ doing here?" He declared, pointing at Pyro with a mustard covered knife. 

"I'm your new house mate, mate," Pyro said between bites. "Thanks for the cut lunch. I was starving." 

"Yo, what's everyone looking at?" Toad said, hopping into the kitchen. "Hello cuddle muffin," he said to Wanda, leaning up against her. "How are you today?" 

Wanda shoved him away. "I _was _fine. Then you and the pyromaniac showed up." 

Toad blinked, then focused on Pyro. Pyro grinned wildly. "G'day." 

Toad shrieked like a girl and hopped backwards, smashing into a chair that Blob had previously moved out of his way. The chair and Toad went tumbling back towards Lance, who still wasn't able to move quickly. Wanda threw blue light at Toad and the chair. Both went flying away from Lance, out into the living room and smashed into the couch. 

"Yo, I'm okay," Toad said, getting up and attempting to walk. 

"Too bad," Wanda muttered. Pyro was laughing hysterically. 

"That bloke's more jumpy than a boomer!" Pyro said. "Look at 'im go!" He threw back his hear and roared. "I think I'm gonna enjoy it 'ere." 

"You're staying?" Wanda said in disgust. "Don't you have your own place? With the rest of the Acolytes?" 

"I _am_ the Acolytes, Sheila." Pyro said. "Since Gambit and Colossus left, it was me an' the ruddy hair ball. Then ya Da' sent 'im off somewhere, and decided 'e'd rather 'ave me with the rest of you." 

Toad had finally wandered back into the kitchen, rubbing his head. "That couch is way too hard, yo." He frowned at Wanda. "Next time I hope to fly into your arms, snuggle poo." 

Wanda opened her mouth to say something saucy, but Pyro shot a ball of flame at Toad before she could. Toad jumped to avoid it. The ball spun around after him. Toad jumped onto the counter. "Yo! This isn't funny man!" 

"I think it's a riot!" Pyro cackled. The ball of fire shot past Toad's head and singed his hair. "C'mon ugly, you should be able t' dodge this for a while!" 

"Cut it out St. John!" Pietro snapped. "Do you WANT to set something on fire?" 

"Yeah," Pyro said. "'Im!" He gestured at Toad. The fire ball exploded in front of Toad as Pyro said that and Toad found himself with a scorched face. 

"That is not cool, yo!" Toad exclaimed. 

"Shove it frog-face." 

"All right, that's it, yo!" Toad rolled up his sleeves. "Put 'em up!" 

Pyro ignored him. "So, Sheila," he said to Wanda, "want to show me my room? I 'ope it's by yours." 

Wanda looked at him in disgust. "No and no. Blob, show him." 

"He ate half of my sub!" Blob whined. Wanda looked at him furiously. Blob put his hand up in defense. "Hey, no problem though. I made too much anyway." 

Wanda left the kitchen, and several second later her door could be heard slamming, then falling off its hinges. There was loud cursing, and Pietro zoomed up to fix the door, then zoomed back down. "Blob, justtakehimupstairs." 

"Right," Blob said. Lance and Pietro moved out of his way as he squeezed through the doorway to the kitchen. "Follow me." 

Lance and Pietro watched as Blob led Pyro upstairs. They both looked at each other. 

"If we don't get killed at school he's going to kill us while we sleep," Lance said. 

"Tell me about it," Pietro agreed. 

- 

Rogue's funeral was eerily silent. Beast and Logan were her pallbearers. Logan hadn't said anything to anyone since she had passed away. He had canceled all his danger room sessions, and didn't come out of his room unless he was hungry. There was constant howls of anguish and crashing from within the room. 

All the students were subdued. Especially the younger ones. It had finally hit home to them that being a hero meant they were placing their life on the line. Sometimes they wouldn't live to see retirement from the hero business. Illyana seemed to be dealing with Rogue's death the best. She had made vague references to her time in Limbo as the reason why, but said nothing more substantial. 

To everyone's surprise Mystique and Destiny showed up just as the ceremony was about to start. Apparently Irene had foreseen Rogue's passing, but hadn't been able to tell anyone what to do to prevent it in time. Mystique's face had shown more expression when she was a statue. She walked over to Kurt and put an arm around him. Kurt looked up at her, and then they both returned their focus to Xavier who was reading the eulogy. 

Kitty looked around, trying to see how Gambit was holding up. She glanced towards his roommate, Peter, but didn't see him. He wasn't with Scott and Jean, or Warren. Kitty suddenly became worried. She left the funeral. She was feeling sick anyway. Xavier had asked her if she wanted a new roommate. Kitty had refused. She had touched Rogue's things only once, to get the card Remy had given Rogue. Rogue had been wearing Remy's necklace when she had passed away, so there was no need to get it. Other than that Kitty had left her roommate's side alone. 

Kitty phased through a wall to enter the house, then used her abilities to walk up the air towards Peter and Remy's room. Halfway up she glanced out the windows. It nearly made her cry to see everyone out there in black, but she had cried herself dry all ready. In a few days she might be able to cry again. 

Kitty didn't want to barge in on Remy, so she phased outside of his door and knocked softly on it. It swung open, but there was no verbal acknowledgment of her presence. 

"Gambit? I, like, wanted to see how you're doing." 

The room was dark, the curtains drawn so that the light from the setting sun could hardly cast any light into the room. Still, Kitty could make out Gambit's form. He was sitting in the middle of the floor, legs crossed, head bowed. He didn't respond to her. 

"I- I know how rough this must be," Kitty said, her worry growing. "I mean you two really did really-" she stopped short as her eyes caught sight of something silver in Remy's right hand. After a chilling moment she realized what it was. A razor blade. Her eyes went wide with horror. "Gambit, please, put that down. Please. Losing Rogue- it's killing all of us. Please don't make us mourn you too." 

Kitty could have sworn she saw the razor move. She panicked, rushed over, and went to get the razor from Remy. She grabbed his right arm, then dropped it, reality sinking in. Her hand was covered in a dark, sticky substance, as was Remy's lap. At once Kitty knew it was blood. She was far too late. Remy felt cold to the touch. He was dead. 

Kitty screamed, and lunged towards the door. She wanted to race downstairs and tell the others what had happened, but her path was blocked by a tall, dark figure. Kitty stared, astonished, as she realized the figure had a skull for a face. It held up a scythe and swung at her. 

Kitty woke up in a cold sweat, halfway phased through the bed. The panic she had felt in her dream immediately transferred over to her waking self. Without taking a second to compose herself she phased down through the bed and floor. She headed straight for Peter and Remy's room. 

Popping her head inside, she was partially relieved to see Peter sleeping in his bed and the curtains wide open, moonlight illuminating almost everything. Her heart began to pound, however, as she realized Remy wasn't in his bed. Resolving not to panic, she immediately continued her trip downwards to the infirmary. 

Everyone had been visiting with Rogue, who had taken the news of her impending death surprisingly well. Or, at least, it had surprised most of the mansion inhabitants. Rogue had, in a rare moment of sharing, admitted to Kitty that she thought her powers would be the death of her one way or another. Kitty had been severely shaken by this idea, but it appeared now that her roommate may have been right. 

Rogue's most constant visitors were Kitty, Kurt, and, of course, Remy. The latter had blatantly refused to leave Rogue's side for any reason. Kitty was hoping that he still hadn't. In order to prolong the amount of time he had to find a solution, Beast had put Rogue on drugs that suppressed her immune system, and therefore slowed her decay. Sadly, they also made Rogue sleep for most of the day and when she was awake she was very weak and had to put an excruciating amount of effort into talking. 

Kitty approached Rogue's cot silently, phasing only her head through the wall to take a peek. Rogue was tossing and turning, but very much so still alive, Kitty noted with a sigh of relief. Stroking her forehead and murmuring "Je t'aime Rogue. Ne me laissez pas. N'allez pas," over and over again was Remy. He looked like he hadn't gotten sleep for days. Kitty watched him for a minute, heart aching, and then slipped back up to her room for a night of unrest. 

- 

"I am going to kill him." 

"Wanda. . ." 

"Him _and_ Toad." 

"Listen, sis. . ." 

"Don't tell me that I'm overreacting! I am _not_ overreacting!" Wanda snapped at her brother as a light bulb turned blue and exploded. "They're both immature pompous asses and they both think they're god's gift to women- specifically _me_!" 

Pietro moved as far away from any glass as he could. "Wanda I agree. YouknowIdo! They both need to leave you alone-" 

"So tell THEM that!" Wanda yelled, poking her brother in the chest. "Aren't you _supposed_ to be leading this team?" 

"-but it's not that _simple_," Pietro finished. "IknowIknowIknow you want them to stop. I do! But St. John thinks he's better than me and Toad hasn't got enough brain cells to function normally, let alone understand the fact that you don't want him around." 

"The I'll 'tell' them _myself_!" Wanda boomed, her power shattering a window. 

"You'lldestroythehouse!" Pietro said in a panic. "Please Wanda, just wait until Father comes by again to sort them out. He'll come by soon, you know that. Pleasepleasepleasewait?" 

Wanda looked at him and growled. "You're a total loser, you know that? Lance deserves to lead this team more than you do. You have no backbone." 

"Nobackbone!?" Pietro exclaimed. "Hey, I'mtryingtokeepthisteamtogether!" 

"Yeah, great job," his sister scowled. "If there wasn't anywhere else for us to go, I think there wouldn't _be_ a brotherhood. Lance, Blob, Toad- I bet they'd all leave. Especially since the pyromaniac moved in." 

"He hasn't even been here more than a _day_ yet!" Pietro said. 

"He's not going to last the week," Wanda growled, "unless he keeps his hands and filthy thoughts to himself." She stormed up the stairs without waiting for a response from her brother. 

"Damn," Pietro muttered. Even with Wanda under the delusion of a happy childhood she still had quite a temper. Though he didn't like to admit it, even to himself, Pietro was still scared shitless by her. He knew that one day Mastermind's fake memories would shatter, and Pietro would have to be faster than ever to escape his sister's wrath. 

"She's a feisty Sheila ain't she?" Pyro said, sneaking up behind Pietro and nudging him in the ribs. 

"St. John, what the hell are you doing?" Pietro demanded, his frustration ripping loose. "Do you not understand the fact that my sister loathes you? Do you not understand that harassing her is probably the _worst_ thing for your health?" 

"I like t' live dangerously mate," Pyro smirked. "She's pretty damn good looking. Considering 'ow the rest o' the family looks. I wouldn't mind getting a piece of her. I wonder if her powers would go off while someone fuc-" 

Without warning Pietro punched Pyro in the gut. "Don'tyou_dare_talkaboutherthatway!" He fumed. "So help me god I will tear your head off if I even get an inkling that you've said that sort of thing again. Whatever our history may be, Wanda and I are twins. I _will_ look out for her." 

Winded, Pyro looked up. Pietro was a bit disturbed by the wry smile on his face. "Well, you've certainly grown a backbone quickly. Tell me, were you looking out for 'er when your Da' dropped 'er into the 'ome?" 

Pietro went to swing at him again, but Pyro wrapped a sheet of flame around him. Pietro pulled back his fist just centimeters away from Pyro's face. "Jesus! Turn that _off_!" Pietro blurted. "You're going to torch the place!" 

Pyro withdrew his flames. "Listen 'ere Quicksilver," He said grimly, his eyes flashing. "I say what I want to say. None of your yabber is gonna scare me out o' it. I ain't afraid o' you, or ya Da', or ya loverly sister. I can make quick work outta anyone. It's called 'flash frying'." He stood up, still smiling eerily. "So, mate, I don't bloody care that ya Da' put you in charge. The rule is simple; you don't piss me off and we'll be great friends." 

"You're reallyfuckedup St. John," Pietro said in disgust. 

Pyro laughed. "My one great claim to fame." He pinched Pietro's cheek. "Don't worry mate," his eyes sparkled maliciously, "I"ll take good care of ya sister." 

Pietro barely held his temper in check, knowing Pyro would just flare up again if he tried to lash out. He was baiting Pietro, trying to gauge how he would react. "Step out of line with her once and flash fried or not I will pound you into the dirt." 

Pyro laughed loudly. "Good luck with that mate. Good luck." 

Pietro walked away, totally revolted. Pyro smirked at his back. "Bloody drongo," he shook his head. "Thinks 'e can tell me what t' do." Pyro strolled up the stairs, having heard Wanda's door slam shut just before. He sidled towards her room, but stopped and growled when he noticed Toad outside Wanda's door. 

"Cuddle kins?" Toad whined, trying the doorknob. "Are you okay love muffin?" 

"Go away!" Wanda's voice snapped through the door. "I'm trying to read." 

"But sugar dumplin' I just want to make sure you're all right." He managed to jiggle the lock open, and he hopped in. "That Pyro, if he's botherin' you I'll put him in his place, yo." 

"And you'll wind up ash," Wanda said. "Besides, I don't need anyone to defend me. I can take care of myself Toad. I also have my father to back me up." Wanda set her book down. "I just want everyone to leave me alone until he comes back. Besides, don't you have to get ready for school? Isn't it time for your semiannual shower?" She had one hand on her hips, and the other was on the door, ready to throw it shut. 

"I didn't mean you _couldn't_ beat him up yourself, yo. I mean that you shouldn't _have_ to." Toad puffed himself up. "I will always defend my sweetie pie." 

Wanda's hand covered her face. "Toad, no. Go away." 

"But snookums-" Toad deflated a little. 

"Go away," she repeated, dropping her hand back down to the doorknob, eyes flashing. 

"You 'erd the Sheila, now get!" Pyro said loudly, shooting a small ball of flames at Toad. "She don't need you stinkin' up the place." 

"Yo, Wanda's my girl!" Toad yelled, puffing up again. "Go, like, make s'mores or something." 

Wanda groaned at the lame insult. Pyro was about to say something snappy in reply, but Wanda slammed and locked the door on both of them. 

"Look at what you did, yo! You got her mad!" Toad said furiously. "You ain't nothing but trouble, yo." 

"An' you ain't nothing but a smelly little runt," Pyro snapped back. "You're not very bright either. Can't you tell she thinks you're a worthless slob?" 

"She does not!" 

"Yeah, right. Notice 'ow 'er nose always wrinkles up in disgust hen you come near? In fact, everyone's nose does that but that's not the point. . ." 

"Hey, man, there was _no_ problem between Wanda and I until _you_ showed up, yo!" Toad said angrily. 

"Maybe that means she like me better than you," Pyro retorted, hoping to get a rise out of Toad. It worked wonderfully. Toad sputtered for several minutes. 

"Wanda would never fall for a jerk like you!" Toad finally exploded. "Yo, you're even worse to her than the _other_ men in her life were!" 

Wanda, listening by her door, was puzzled by Toads comment, but she shoved it to the back of her mind. It was rather flattering to hear Toad defending her. Even though he was a slimy, ugly creature, somewhere under all that grime he had a good heart. 

Pyro just snickered at Toad. "Why don't you 'op along there froggy? Wanda clearly want to be left alone." 

"Yeah, well, that means you too, yo!" Toad said. Pyro flicked a jet of flames at him and Toad shrieked and darted off. Pyro smirked and proceeded to his room. He cold have gone after Toad, but he didn't. He had other plans in mind he wanted to sort out. 

- 

The students of the Xavier Institute were very subdued that Monday. They had reason to be. Rogue's condition was steadily worsening, and despite the fact that Beast had finally figured out how the collar mechanism worked, he had not successfully devised a way of removing it safely. If anything he had given them more reasons why it _couldn't_ be removed safely. As it turned out the collar had two power wires that twined around each other. They were so tightly wound that you couldn't damage one without destroying the other. One wire supplied the power to run the power suppressing component of the collar. The other wire supplied power to a function that kept a switch open. This open switch was the trigger for the explosives. Cutting off the power in any way would force the switch to close, causing the bomb mechanism to go off. The remotes that Julien and Belle had destroyed enabled the safe shutdown of the power suppressing function without triggering the bomb. They could also turn the bomb mechanism off without setting it off. Without the remotes though it was impossible to tell if the bomb mechanism was on or off, or to turn off the collar. 

Kitty felt very alone. The younger students had shuffled off quickly and quietly, and none of the older Xavier Institute kids were around to talk with. Kurt had immediately been confronted by Amanda when he had walked into school. She was furious that he hadn't responded to any of her calls all week. The look on his face, however, spoke volumes for him. They began talking quietly in a corner, and Amanda wound up comforting her blue boyfriend. Peter was showing Illyana around, because Xavier was hoping she could join the normal community quickly. He'd been giving her cram lessons on every subject. Jean, Scott, Warren and Remy were all out of school and the only other person around her age was Rogue. 

Kitty adjusted her backpack silently. No one that had been friends with her pre-exposure was friends with her now. Even Arcade regarded her differently. Some of her teachers didn't seem to mind, but others would find any excuse to make her life a living hell. _Just another year and a half. Then this bullshit will be over_, Kitty told herself. 

A hand dropped on her shoulder heavily. "Hey pretty Kitty," murmured a familiar voice. "Going my way?" 

Kitty whirled around with a gasp. "L- Lance?! I thought you and the brotherhood were banned from Bayville?!" 

"Magneto got us back in," Lance said with a shrug. "Hey, are you all right? You don't look so good." 

Kitty threw her arms around him and began to let loose all the emotions she had bottled up about Rogue. As her tears began to seep into Lance's shirt he could only stare and pat her on the head, totally dumbfounded. He murmured soothing things to her, a tad embarrassed by the fact that he was stuck in the middle of the hallway. "What's going on Kitty?" He asked in his most calming tone. "You can tell me." 

"It- it's Rogue," Kitty sobbed. "Lance, Rogue's dying and there's nothing we can do about it." She explained all about Rogue and Remy's ordeal in New Orleans and the aftermath of the trip. "We can't figure out how to save her." 

"Dying?" Lance said, stunned. He had always thought Rogue was okay when it came to the X-Men. He'd even admired her decision to leave the brotherhood. He would have been way too scared of Mystique to do that. She had never treated him with overt hostility- except when she had secretly threatened his life when he started dating Kitty again. "If yah evah so much as blink th' wrong way in mah roommate's direction ah'll beat yah from here t'next Sund'y an' that'll jus' be th' start, y'hear?" She had said. Lance had agreed, and never told Kitty, because Rogue had given him a look that added an unspoken threat about talking about the experience. "Kitty, I'm so. . . So sorry. I wish I could, you know, do something. . ." 

"You're doing enough," Kitty mumbled into his shirt. "This is all you could do." 

Lance held onto her well past the first bell. 

- 

"Dying?" 

"Yo, what did you say?" 

Lance nodded at Blob and Toad. "This power suppressing collar is killing her." 

"Dude," Toad said, "her powers just suck. She has 'em, she can't touch nobody. She don't have 'em, she croaks. What could be worse than that?" 

Lance ignored him. "The thing is, the way she explained the collar, I think Magneto might be able to fix it. Assuming the trigger switch is made out of some sort of metal he could use his power to keep it open. That way the collar could come off and Rogue would be fine." 

"How are we supposed to find Magneto to ask him to do it_? Would_ he save her even? She's not on our side anymore," Blob pointed out. 

"I know, I know, but I think Magneto would overlook that and see the bigger picture-" Lance waved his arms. "A mutant is dying, and it's because of a collar that's used to suppress mutant powers. I think he'd want to destroy it as soon as he could." 

"Dude, that still leaves the 'how you gonna find him, yo' part," Toad pointed out. 

Lance frowned. "I had hoped you guys might know where he's been recently. I know Pietro and Wanda have no idea and I don't want to ask the pyromaniac." 

"I am _not_ tracking down Sabertooth to ask him," Toad interjected. 

Lance stared at Toad. "You won't have to. Pyro, Sabertooth, the only reason they might know where he's hiding is because they were Acolytes. We've got an Acolyte who would track down Apocalypse if he had to in order to save Rogue." 

"Colossus?" Blob said. 

"No! Gambit." 

"Uh, hate to burst your bubble but Gambit don't like us none," Toad said. "And he's still in the X-Mansion, and we're not exactly welcome guests there." 

"I can give a note to Kitty. She can give it to him. He'll at least _read_ it if it's coming from her," Lance pointed out. 

"But it's from _you_," Blob said. 

"_He_ won't know that now _will_ he?" Lance retorted. 

Toad raised a hand. "Yo, can you explain to me why we're helping one of them?" 

Lance paused, looked at Toad and Blob and said seriously, "She would do it for us. Any of them would. You know that they would." Lance folded his arms. "Kurt didn't care what side I was on when he tried to teleport me out of my car. There was also a distinct possibility that he would have been road kill if he had gotten to the car in time to grab me. That didn't matter. He just tried his best to get to me." 

"Yeah, and look at where you ended up. The hospital," Toad snorted. 

"If we don't help Rogue could wind up six feet under!" Lance shouted. "What part of that don't you understand? She's a mutant, just like us. Heck, she was on _our goddamn side_. If any of us had bothered to try to connect with her she might _still_ be. However we're always too busy looking after our own individual asses to even _think_ about anyone else." He glared at Toad. "If you don't want to be a part of it, fine. I can do this myself." He stormed away. 

Toad stared at him, one eyebrow raised. He tilted his head towards Blob. "Yo dude, all that time he spent with Kitty and the X-Men finally made him go crazy! Think we should tell Pietro?" 

Blob paused, frowned, then said, "I think Lance is right. I think that this time we can't sit this out." 

"What?" Toad hopped up and down in front of Blob. "Are you nuts? What're we supposed to do, search the whole town for signs of the metal head? Did you forget that Rogue laid you out _flat_ when you first got here- _when she was still on **our** side?_" 

Blob grabbed Toad by the head. "I thought we agreed that you wouldn't mention that if I wouldn't mention how she kicked your ass in about two seconds when we were going to prove ourselves to Magneto." 

Toad made a gurgle of a reply through Blob's fingers. 

"That's better," Blob said, letting Toad down again. 

"Whatever," Toad grumbled, still sore about that particular defeat. "What do we owe her anyway?" 

"We might not owe her anything now, but when she was our teammate we didn't exactly make her feel welcome. Besides, the X-Men saved all our asses from getting fried by Apocalypse when we were going to sit back and relax. You know who took him down in the end, right?" 

"Yeah," Toad said, "the same person who brought him to life!" 

"No, Mystique brought him to life. Rogue was her puppet. Rogue risked everything facing him again." 

"Yo, since when were you a philosopher?" Toad grumbled, folding his arms. Blob shrugged in reply. 

"I was just thinking." 

"Don't do that no more, okay? You're scaring me." 

Blob shrugged. "Sorry. Didn't mean to." Toad looked at Blob like he had never seen him before, then shook it off. 

"Let's go. If we miss class I bet Magneto'll boil the iron in our blood or something. . ." He began hopping down the hallway, and Blob waddled off after him. 

- 

It was around lunchtime when Jean and Scott were called to Xavier's office. The professor looked even graver than he had the past few days, which was a considerable accomplishment. Xavier signaled for both of them to sit. 

"Jean, Scott," Xavier started, folding his fingers. "Thank you for coming on such short notice. I know I've taken you both away from your lunch preparations." 

Scott nodded slightly, thinking of the hot meatball sub he had to abandon. Logan had probably eaten it by not. 

"It's all right professor. We all know that things could change in a minute concerning-" Jean paused, looking for the right words, "Rogue's condition." 

"Which is exactly why I've called you here. I have some bad news." 

"Bad news?" Scott said, his voice higher than usual. "I honestly don't think we can't take any more of that." 

"I know, and I am sorry. This, however, must be said." Xavier closed his eyes for a long moment. "You both know how we had planned that in the event of Rogue's continued deterioration I would attempt to preserve her mind within mine under some sort of catatonic state?" 

Jean nodded. "It was the only way we could possibly hope to keep her alive." 

"It failed." 

Jean and Scott were dumbstruck. "You mean-?" Scott began, but was unable to finish. 

Xavier folded his hand so tightly that his knuckles appeared white. "Repeated attempts to isolate Rogue's brain waves, Rogue's personality," he shook his head. "They all failed. Despite the fact that her power is- for lack of a better term- off, she is still retaining all of the absorbed personalities. Her mind is too difficult to get a lock on, let alone remove or preserve." 

"But Cerebro-" Jean began. 

Xavier shook his head. "We've tried that. We had it on a full augmentation of my powers and. . . Nothing." 

Scott stood up. "But, what if Jean helped you? Jean could lend her powers to yours-" 

"_No_," the professor said sharply and quickly, surprising both of them. Xavier motioned for Scott to sit again and rubbed his temple. "What I mean is, if I couldn't get a lock at all it would be impossible for Jean and I to get Rogue's mind out intact. IT would fragment her personality and that might be an even greater problem." 

Jean's hand wound around Scott's. "What can we do Professor? There must be _some_ reason why you called us here, besides to tell us this." 

"Yes, there is." Xavier looked at them. "As the oldest students, I know that most of the responsibility has tended to fall to you. In the next few days you will become counselors to the others, and if all goes badly, the other students will be looking up to you as an example. I have been planning for some time to give out field leader assignments, and split the X-Men into two primary teams. It was planned that together you and Scott would be co-leaders of the Gold team, with Storm as your Senior advisor. However, I had planned that Rogue would co-lead the second team, the Blue team, with Kurt. Logan would have been their advisor. Now, however, these plans have to change. I want your opinion on who you think should lead the second team." 

"Why not let Jean lead the second team?" Scott said. "We don't need to have co-leaders, or Kitty could be mine. . ." 

"I have things paired this way for a reason Scott," Xavier said sternly. 

"I don't see why you're acting this way!" Scott exploded. "First you won't even consider letting Jean help with Rogue, and now you won't let her be team leader? You said yourself we've both been here the longest!" 

"Scott, " Xavier said in a soft, almost threatening tone, "I have my reasons, you must understand this." 

Scott was about to reply curtly when Jean put a hand on his shoulder. "Scott, it obviously has to do with the visions the professor had when we fought Apocalypse." 

Scott stopped, the wind gone from his sails. He was still fuming. "Well, I don't think any of the others would be up to being a team leader. None of them are qualified enough. If they do act somewhat leader-ly they're either too young or they haven't been here nearly long enough. Jean's the only feasible possibility." 

Jean leaned forward. "I agree with Scott somewhat, though I'd like to ask, Why Rogue as leader? Kurt might have been just as good, he might still be." 

"Kurt, though responsible most of the time, does have his moments where he lets his 'theatrical' sense get out of control. I was hoping to balance that with Rogue's somewhat. . ._ cantankerous_ sense of reality." Xavier closed his eyes. "Honestly, I was hoping to help Rogue begin to believe in herself. You both surely realize that she's never felt quite so sure of herself since her power surge. She has also admitted to me, privately, that she thinks the rest of the students no longer trust her because of it." 

Scott looked startled. "What? Why would she think that? She saved us all from Apocalypse!" 

"By using someone else's powers. Someone who might have done it himself if he was older," Xavier said. "That's how she saw it anyway. She thinks of herself as the most deplorable type of thief." 

"I can't believe. . . . Even after all this time. . ." 

"The point is Scott, admitting this was the first step. I had to show her that she was trusted. I also thought that with her _unique_ insight into everyone's powers she would make a most apt team leader. Now, unfortunately," he placed his hands flat on the desk, forcing himself not to clench them out of frustration, "that is not the case." 

"We might still have a chance, Professor," Jean said. "Rogue's tough. She could hang on long enough for us to figure something- anything- out." 

"I hope you're right Jean." Xavier said, looking out the window. He didn't appear to notice the sunny day outside or the birds chirping in the tree right outside it. He seemed to be staring at his reflection. "I hope you're right." 

Jean and Scott got up to leave then, and he did not stop them. Scott was in a bad mood. "I can't believe- I just _can't_ believe- that he could act like that- like you were some sort of nobody. Or that Rogue could still think that we don't _trust _her!" 

"Scott," Jean said soothingly. 

"I would trust Rogue with my life! That's more than I can say for Drake and his joyriding buddies. . ." 

"Scott!" Jean said, this time more irately. "You are acting like a child. _Think_ about what you're saying." 

"I'm sorry Jean," he soughed, adjusting his glasses, "but I just can't take this anymore. Rogue is our friend and she dying and she thinks that we don't trust her and it's all too much for me. I didn't get _any_ sleep last night. . ." Jean wrapped her arms around him. "And the professor is acting so unfair to you. . ." 

"The Professor is losing one of his students Scott. Just like we're losing a friend. It's just as hard on him- if not harder. Can't you see what's going through his mind? If he hadn't messed up with his son, he wouldn't have been away. Rogue wouldn't have been kidnaped, wouldn't have the collar, and wouldn't be dying." She kissed him softly on the cheek. "We're all under the same stress here. That's why the Professor want's us to be examples to the other students. If we start to crack, they'll begin to follow suit." 

"You're right," Scott sighed. "I just wish there was something we could do." He held her closer, kissing her forehead. 

"I don't think there's anything we can do. We just have to hope for a miracle." 

"Great, like that'll ever happen." 

Jean looked up at Scott with a small smile on her face. "Stranger things have." 

- 

"Lance, what is this?" Kitty asked. She was about to break the tape seal on Lance's note to Gambit when he caught her hand. 

"Kitty, look, it's a personal note for Gambit. I'd tell you more but. . . It might hurt you later," Lance said quietly. "It's nothing bad, okay? I just. . . You have to trust me on this. Please." 

They were sitting in his new Jeep, which looked exactly like the old one, despite the fact that it was less beat up. Kitty had been initially surprised to find out that Lance spent a small fortune on insurance, but then she considered who he lived with. Blob could easily take out a small Jeep. 

Kitty bit her bottom lip gently and nodded. She slipped the note into one of her notebooks. Lance leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. "Listen, I know this is a hard time for you. You can call me anytime, and I'll get over to the Mansion in five minutes or less, okay?" 

Kitty nodded again, and hugged him. "Thank you Lance." 

Lance said gently "Are you sure you don't want a ride home?" 

Kitty shook her head. "No. I'm trying out for the school play. Rogue and I were going to go together, for fun. . . but. . ." 

Lance hugged her once more. "You'll be great. I just hope you have a decent director wen it comes to prejudices." 

"So do I." Kitty kissed him quickly on the cheek and phased through the Jeep door. Lance watched her until she had entered the building again. A few minutes late Toad and Blob caught up to him. 

"So, yo man, we going to look for the bucket head or what?" Toad said, hopping into the passenger's seat. 

"Huh?" Said Lance, baffled. 

Blob climbed into the car, easily taking up most of the back. "Well, If Gambit doesn't know where Magneto is, we have to find him, don't we?" 

Lance looked at his two teammates. The three of them had been together for a while before Pietro had shown up and they had a bit of a bond. "You guys sure about this? I mean, she's one of the X-Men. . ." 

Toad bopped him on the back of the head. "Yo, Lance, just drive the car, okay? Before we change our minds." 

Lance grinned widely. "Then let's rock and roll!" 

Blob grabbed onto his shoulder. "Let's _not_ man. Last time you did that you nearly killed yourself." 

Lance had to laugh. "Yeah, I suppose that's true. Then, lets just roll." 

Better," Toad and Blob echoed together. 

- 

Pietro knocked on Wanda's door. "Hey, sis, it's me. Can I talk to you?" 

Wanda opened the door a crack, looked him over, then allowed him to enter. "You were talking slower than normal. I thought Pyro had learned how to imitate your voice." 

"You really don't like him do you?" 

"Besides the fact that he's a totally sexist pig, an asshole, and has the most repulsive personality **_ever_** I like him just fine," she grumbled. She whisked away back into the recesses of her room. She kept it dark, and she had long ago painted the walls black. Before she had been brainwashed Wanda had said she didn't like bright, white rooms. They reminded her too much of the Asylum. It was one of the things that carried over after her brainwashing, despite the fact that she was no longer aware of the true reason behind it. "Honestly, Pietro, I can't reason why Father would lump him here with us. He could have collected a new group of Acolytes if he wanted. Or maybe he has and he doesn't want Pyro in it. . . But I' still confused." 

Pietro shrugged. "Yeah, soamI. Look, I just wanted to let you know that I havetomakea run to the store. LivingwithBlobain'tnopicnic. I went shopping justlastweek and he's all ready gone through all the food." Pietro grumbled. "It's gotta be costing Father a fortune." 

Wanda frowned. "Don't be gone too long. I do _not_ want to be alone in a house with him." 

Pietro put a hand on her shoulder. "I'll do my best to be back in a few blinks." He started to break away then added, "Wanda, you know that whenever I have the power I will do right by you, right?" 

Wanda looked at him funnily. "What kind of a question is that?" 

"An honest one." 

"Then here's the honest answer," she replied, giving him a sisterly hug. "Yes. Now go, hurry. I want dinner." 

Pietro was stunned for a few seconds. That was the first time Wanda had hugged him in. . . Forever. He flashed back to the days when they were kids, playing tag, then shook his head and reoriented on the present. "Wanda, you're the best. I'llseeyouinaminute!" 

He left the house as an untraceable blur. The only thing Wanda could track him by was the streak of white that was his hair. "Poor Pietro," she murmured. "The market is going to be packed. Getting through the lines will take forever." 

"That'll give us more time to talk, eh Sheila?" 

Wanda whirled around. Pyro was standing in her doorway. Suddenly she was praying the stores were having a bad day in sales and that Pietro would be back soon. "What do you want?" She said curtly, shoving past him to get out of her room. No sense in being cornered by the pyromaniac. 

"What d'you think I want?" Pyro said smoothly. Wanda turned and glared at him. Pyro held up his hands, " 'Ey, I didn't mean anything by it, luv. I was just trying to prove the point that you've made some bloody quick assumptions about me." 

"You haven't given me so much as a _shred_ of a reason why I should make any _other_ sort of judgment on you," she snapped, with considerable venom. She heard a light bulb shatter inside her room and grumbled. She'd been doing that a lot lately. "You've proceeded to be nothing less than a _pervert_ towards me and an complete and utter _asshole_ towards everyone else in this house! You care nothing about other people's safety, running around with that flame-thrower on, nor about anyone's property. You been nothing but brash, rude, and boorish since you stepped inside this house. I don't know if _this_ is how you act when my father's around, but I - won't- stand- it- **_anymore_**!" The banister began to twist and come to life. 

"You, know, you're takin' this way too seriously luv-" 

"_Stop. Calling. Me. That._" The banister reared up like a snake and struck at him. He dodged in time, but just barely. 

"Temper, temper," Pyro muttered. "It comes down to this- you're a pretty good-looking Sheila, and I thought you might appreciate 'ookin' up with someone better than the Toad." 

"Excuse me? Did you just say 'hook up'?" Wanda fairly roared. "Please tell me that it did not cross your fucking mind that I am sleeping with Toad!" 

"No, but you look like you could use a little something. . . And from someone better than Toad-" 

Pyro never saw the slap coming, he was so focused on the banister. He was taken totally by surprised and nearly fell. He grabbed at the banister for support, and only realized his mistake when the banister began wrapping around his arm. 

"Stay. Away. From. Me." Wanda said sharply. "Or I swear to god I'll castrate you." She stormed down the stairs. 

"You're not getting away from me that easy, luv," Pyro said and he started to follow her. 

- 

Pietro had expended all of three seconds shopping. Now he was tapping his foot at breakneck speed as he waited _forever_ on line. As it turned out the customer right in front of him had brought up a can of soup with a missing bar code. Now the cashier was on the phone with the soup guy, who couldn't get the can because he was helping another customer. Pietro snapped. He whizzed back into the soup department, grabbed a can and brought it up with him. 

"Here," he said to the cashier. "Ihaveacan. Just scan it." 

"Sorry sir," the cashier, who's name tag identified her as 'Mandy' said. "But this is chicken noodle. The code I need is for split-pea soup." 

Pietro stared at Mandy for a half a minute. 'You'rekiddingmeright? You _have_ to have _split pea soup_?" 

"It's for inventory reasons," Mandy tried to explain. 

Pietro threw up his arms. When Mandy turned to page the soup guy again, Pietro ran back into canned goods. He removed half of the soup wall before finding the split peas soup, put everything back on the wall, then returned to the register in a flash. 

"_Here_," Pietro said, throwing the can at Mandy. "Split-pea." 

Mandy looked at it, frowned, then scanned it. "Thanks." 

"You're welcome," Pietro said, then turned to get his cart. He found that it had been moved, and the person who had been standing behind him was now next in line. "Excuse me," Pietro said. "This is my spot." 

"No it isn't," The large customer said. "You got out of line." He began to unload his stuff onto the counter. 

"_Excuse me_," Pietro said more forcefully. "If it wasn't for me you'd still be behind Mr. Split Pea Soup!" 

"You could have waited like the rest of us, insteada runnin' off like that," the large man retorted. "Mutie," he added with a growl. 

Pietro's eyes flashed. "So, that's how we're going to play the game, is it?" Before the large customer had even finished unloading his cart, Pietro began scanning his items at lightning speed. The large man, the other customers and Mandy were too astonished to panic. Pietro then proceeded to finish ringing his sale up, paid and made change, then put all of the large customer's items back, before bagging his stuff and whizzing out the door with two carts full. Laughing, Pietro cut off two cars and a motorcycle on his way home. 

- 

Wanda had hardly made her way downstairs when Pyro caught her wrist. "C'mon Wanda, luv, let's jus' 'ave a go at it. You never know, you mightbloody well like it." 

Wanda spun around, glass shattering all around her in surges of blue light. "GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME!" She roared. "I WILL break your arm if you don't!" 

"There no need to be so 'ostile! I'm just offerin' you an opportunity to indulge in one of life's more. . . _satisfying_ aspects." To Wanda's total astonishment, Pyro wrapped his arms around her, grabbed her rear, and caught her eyes. "You're a fine Sheila. I wouldn't dream o' steerin' you wrong." 

Wanda was caught so off guard that her powers fizzled out. Before she could react with her quickly rebounding rage, Pyro had pinned her against the wall and mashed his lips up against hers. He had one of his flame nozzles pointed at her head as an obvious threat, but Wanda didn't even have to worry about it. Pyro was knocked backwards, and kneed in the groin before he knew what was going on. 

"I- WARNED- you- St. John," Pietro said. The groceries were strewn about him and his hair looked wilder than usual. "Stay AWAY from my sister. DOYOUUNDERSTANDTHAT?" 

"We was just 'aving a friendly conversation-" Pyro said, in a slightly higher pitch than normal. 

"Idon't_care_ifshewastheonekissing_you_ whichIhighly_doubt_! Keepyourslimypawsoffofher!" Pietro boomed fiercely. Even if Pyro couldn't understand what he was saying, the tone was there. "So, _fuckoff_!" 

"Real righteous family you've got Wanda," Pyro said sarcastically. "Always lookin' out for your _best interests_." 

"ShuttheFUCKupSt.John!" 

Wanda looked at Pietro, "What _that _supposed to mean?" 

"Nothing," Pietro said, waving it off. "He's just being a cranky bastard. GofuckoffSt.John," he snapped. 

"Pietro, what is he-" 

"Wanda, he'stryingto _confuse _you," Pietro said. "He's been trying to get into your pants from the moment he walked into the door. He figures that if he pushes the right buttons, makes you doubt little things here and there, you'll begin to trust him and see things through his screwed up eyes." 

"Oh, aye, that 'xactly what I'm doing, eh, mate?" Pyro said irritably. "Sure, sure." 

Wanda looked back and forth between the two boys, slightly befuddled. Her rage has all but subsided, and she was beginning to get a headache. Without another word she went back upstairs. A loud slam indicated that she had entered her room. Before Pyro could turn his nozzles towards Pietro the speedster had slammed him into the wall. 

"AreyououtofyourFUCKINGmind?" Pietro demanded in a dangerous tone. "You reveal to her the truth and I can give you a one-hundred-per-cent-guarantee she'll kill _both_ of us." 

"The only one I see in deep shit if she remembers is you an' your da'-" 

"You were the one who tricked her into following you. You were the messenger that led her to Dad and Mastermind. You think that you're going to get off so easy?" Pietro demanded. Pyro had the look about him of someone who just had the wind taken out of his sails. "The only ones that _might_ be still left _alive_ are the three musketeers- Blob, Toad and Avalanche. Mostly because Toad and Avalanche will be hiding behind Blob." Pietro shoved Pyro to the ground. "So keep you fat mouth shut St. John, or you'll be the one roasted." 

Pietro set about picking up the groceries and putting them away at a fairly normal speed. Pyro picked himself up off of the floor, brushed himself off and muttered, "Three musketeers indeed. . . Where are those blokes?" 

- 

Logan was watching Angel lazily fly in circles and figure eights behind the mansion. He had been trying to meditate, trying so god awfully hard to take his mind off of Rogue. She was probably the closest thing to a daughter he would ever have. If he had been faster, if he had refused to go with Ororo that night, if he had gutted those Rippers before they had smashed the remote, or held them at claw-point until they told him where they could get the thing removed, maybe things would have been different. Or maybe not. He vaguely remembered being told once while he was in Japan that everything happens for a reason. Even if you were to go back in time, somehow everything would wind up the same. Rogue would still be lying there, sickly pale and wasting away, and he would be watching Warren, who was trying to shake the awful realization that he could do nothing to help the girl who had all but saved him from Magneto. 

Everyone in the mansion was feeling the impending doom. Beast hadn't slept in days, and had commandeered the coffee maker, much to Logan's chagrin. Ororo had three plants die on her because she couldn't find the willpower to go up to the attic and garden. Kurt couldn't handle the idea of his 'little sister' dying, and had been spending excessive amounts of time out with Amanda. Peter had been silent all afternoon, along with most of the younger students. Except of course, Bobby Drake, who dealt with the stress by making more and more frequent jokes of a rapidly degrading quality. Logan was sure that Gambit had developed a symbiotic relationship with the chair he had by Rogue's bedside. Jean and Scott were putting on brave faces, by the Professor's request Logan was sure, but you didn't need to be a psychic to know that they were hurting. Kitty, though, she was the worst one. She was a walking cloud of sadness that infected everyone around her. Logan could see her coming through the gate now. Warren had dropped down to talk to her for a minute, and then Kitty proceeded towards the house, as Warren took off again, only to perch on the roof. 

Kitty had been dancing on the verge of tears right from the beginning of tryouts. The director and performing arts teacher, Ms. Fitzgerald, had looked all around for Rogue, and asked Kitty where she was. Apparently Ms. Fitzgerald had planned the play with a character in mind for Rogue. Kitty could only shake her head and say Rogue was very sick. There was only one thing on her mind now, getting Lance's letter to Remy. Kitty had plenty of time to think about it while she wasn't paying attention to what was going on around her in tryouts, and she realized that Lance could know something that may help Rogue. When she was about three steps into the foyer the chaos started. 

Warren, outside, noticed Amara waving her arms up and down just outside the gate. Warren, confused, flew over. "What's up Amara?" 

"I forgot the new pass-code," she said, with a blush. "You know, they rewired this thing and all. . ." 

"Yeah, those Rippers sure did a number on it," Warren agreed, punching in the code. "Did you see the look on Beast's face when he saw what they had done?" 

"I can only imagine," Amara began, but then she stopped, looking a bit disturbed. 

Warren looked confused. "What's wron-" he never finished. He could see Amara, Tabitha and Roberto talking and laughing a way off. Warren looked at Amara, shocked as her face turned blue for a second, then morphed into a bird. 

"_MYSTIQUE! MYSTIQUE!_" Warren shouted. "MYSTIQUE'S ON THE MANSION GROUNDS!" 

Logan snapped out of his daze instantly, and charged towards the bird, roaring. Warren immediately became airborne, but Mystique, in a total change of tradition, had shifted into a peregrine falcon- the fastest bird in the skies. Kitty had just turned, realizing that she had left the door wide open in her absentminded daze when Mystique tore past her. Mystique had landed and turned into a wolf before Wolverine and Warren could get anywhere near, but their shouts had drawn students and staff alike. Kurt and the Professor appeared in a cloud of smoke. Mystique saw this and shifted again, looking more fearsome in her normal form than she had as a wolf. 

"You crippled little _bastard_!" Mystique shrieked, grabbing the arms of Xavier's chair. "I bet it didn't even cross your mind to call me! If your son or daughter were under my care I would tell you if one of them were gravely ill! If it was Kurt, I wonder if call me or if you would simply send me a funeral invitation! You behavior is so outrageous it disgusts even _me._" 

"Back off lady," Logan snarled. "Otherwise I'll slice you crown to sole." 

Mystique whipped around, transforming into a bear, roaring fiercely, then shifted back to herself. "If you so much as attempt to touch me I'll be sending Sabertooth your skeleton as a birthday present." 

"Wanna bet?" Logan growled, popping both sets of claws. 

"Logan, stop!" Xavier shouted with a mental command that forced Wolverine to sheath his claws. 

"Chuck, she's got no right bustin' in here-" 

"_I have plenty of right to be here! My daughter is dying-_" 

Wolverine bellowed, "The daughter you abused at every turn? The one who you only paid attention to when you could use her to your own end? _That_ daughter?" 

Mystique's eyes glowed. "I warn you that my patience is already worn thin. Continue to pursue this matter further and you'll regret it." 

"Logan, Mother, please, calm down!" Kurt said, highly distressed. "Dhis is going novhere!" 

"Indeed, I must implore you both to calm yourselves so we can talk this out-" Xavier began. 

"You can talk all you want, _I'm_ going to see my daughter-" 

"Try it and I'll tear you a new one." 

"I'd like to see you attempt that fur ball." 

"You're about two seconds away from just that." 

"STOP IT! ALL OF YOU!" Kitty shrieked, unable to take it any longer. "You're acting like children, and this is not the time!" 

For whatever reason, this seemed to shut everyone up. Before Wolverine and Mystique could go at it again Kurt interjected. "Mother, I don't dhink Rogue vould vant to see you." 

"Indeed, Raven, I would have notified you if I thought Rogue would want you to be here. Under the circumstances, I thought it would cause Rogue unwanted stress-" Xavier began, but Mystique cut him off. 

"I don't care what you _think_ Charles. As far as I believe you don't do it nearly as much as you claim you do," Mystiques snapped. She shoved something into his face. "_This_ indicates to me that in circumstances such as these I _can_ and _will_ be by Rogue or Kurt's side as the case may be." 

Xavier looked at the object she was holding. "Is that a Christmas card?" He asked slowly, as if the words were alien to him. 

"She _did_ send it," Kurt murmured of Rogue. 

"Yes, Charles, it _is_," Mystique said with the tone of a teacher scolding a student. "And if you notice it happens to be signed by _both_ of my children." 

"What?!" Exclaimed Logan. 

"What?" Kurt said, his head whipping around. 

Mystique showed Logan the card with an air of defiance. "It seems you don't know as much about my daughter as you thought you did." 

"Rogue signed the card?" Kurt said weakly. "I didn't even dhink she vas going to send it." 

"I want to see her," Mystique said to Xavier, her voice softening for a second. 

Xavier paused, then nodded. "Very well. You must be monitored, so I will go with you." 

"Professor, I have something I promised I'd give Remy," Kitty said. 

"Very well, you may come along," Xavier nodded. 

"Gambit? What does he have to do with this?" 

Kurt, unwisely, said "He's dating Rogue." 

"_What_? That backwater, bootlicking, thief is dating _my daughter_?" 

"Mother, he's not that awful-" 

"I'll be the judge of _that_," Mystique grumbled. 

"He can't be any worse for her than you are," Logan grumbled. Ororo nudged him to shut him up. Mystique ignored both of them. Xavier, Kitty, Mystique and Kurt went down to the infirmary. Logan's grumbles followed them for quite some time. 

Once they had made their way to the infirmary, Xavier insisted on entering first. "Gambit and Beast are both very uptight about the situation. If they see you before me, Raven, I think they would react harshly." 

Mystique snorted something about Gambit, but acknowledged Xavier's advice with a nod. Gambit looked up from his post beside Rogue's bed and stood immediately when he saw the flash of blue skin. He was going to draw out as card, but Xavier waved his hand. 

"It's all right Remy. Mystique isn't here to cause trouble." 

Gambit looked like he wanted to comment, but Rogue shifted in bed and he looked over to her. Rogue forced herself into a sitting position, looking confused. "Wha- what are you doin' hea?" She said to Mystique, weakly. 

Mystique transformed into her Raven Darkholm form, and sat on the edge of Rogue bed. "I wanted to-" she stopped. "I've never meant to hurt you. I've only done. . What I've thought was best Rogue and. . ." Mystique closed her eyes. "People make mistakes. Some people make more than others. I hope you can understand." 

Rogue looked at Mystique, but she didn't seem to quite comprehend what was going on. Her eyes seemed to be looking past Mystique, but for an instant she focused and said, "You hurt me." Mystique placed a hand on Rogue's face. Rogue could vaguely recall being tucked in at night and begin touched the same way, years and years ago. She closed her eyes, tears slipping down her cheeks. "Why?" She whispered. 

Mystique could only shake her head. 

Kitty pulled Remy to the side as this exchange was going on. "Lance wanted me to give this to you. I don't know what it is, or what it says, but he made it sound awfully important." 

Remy took the letter from Kitty and opened it up. His eyes darted along the paper and he seemed to stand straighter all of a sudden. 

"What? What does it say?" Kitty asked, vying to see. 

"He thinks-" Remy began, but a startled cry from Kurt made Gambit and Kitty turn around, the note forgotten. 

Rogue was going into some sort of seizure. Mystique was holding her head, trying to keep Rogue from hurting herself. Beast tore in from the other room, panicked. "Oh no, oh no," he said. "I was worried about this. She's really beginning to break down now. When the seizures stop she'll most likely go into a coma and then. . ." 

"How much time do we have?" Remy asked. 

"A few hours. That's all her body can withstand any more." 

Rogue clamed down for an instant. Remy swooped over to her and bent down next to her. "Rogue, _cherie_, I have to leave. Please, hold on until I get back," he whispered, then kissed her. Rogue reached up weakly to touch him, but couldn't reach far enough. Remy bent further to take her hand. "Be brave _cherie_." He murmured. Then Rogue let him go, and he bolted out of the room. 

"Vhere is he going?" Kurt said, astonished that Remy could move so fast. 

Kitty shook her head. "I don't know." She looked around, trying to find the letter Lance had written, but apparently Remy had taken it with him. "I don't know," she repeated, more depressed. "I hope he knows what he's doing. 

- 

"What were you talking about?" 

Pyro turned to see Wanda in his doorway, looking intimidating and attractive all at once. Resisting the temptation to lick his lips, he said, "What d'ya mean, luv?" 

"About my family looking out for my best interests," Wanda snapped. 

Pyro waved it off. "You 'eard your brother's opinion of it. I _was_ rather 'opin' you'd be interested in what I said 'bout the more satisfyin' aspects of life." 

"You would," Wanda snorted. "You haven't answered my question though." 

Pyro shrugged haphazardly. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you anyway, Sheila. I'm not bloody trustworthy, now am I?" 

Blue light coalesced around Wanda's hands. "Don't play games with me Pyro. I play rough." 

"Wouldn't dream of it luv, but remember," he flashed one of his flame nozzles, "it's dangerous to play with fire. Though I'd love to play 'rough' with you sometime." 

Wanda leaned over towards him. "Maybe you'll get a chance to, if you tell me what I want to know." 

"Is that so?" Pyro said, a glint in his eye. "Somehow I don't believe you."__

Wanda snarled, "Don't pull this kind of _shit_ on me Pyro! Just tell me what you meant!" 

Pyro got up and grabbed her by the wrists. "Why don't you ask ya da'? I'm sure 'e'd love t' tall you exactly what I meant." He shoved her backwards. "Take your bloody sob story somewhere else Sheila. I offered my. . . Unique services. _You_ turned me down." 

Wanda flared up, her powers making Pyro's door rattle imposingly. "You have five seconds to tell me what I want to know." 

Pyro held up his hands, flames shooting out of the nozzles on his gloves. "Try me luv. I could use a good scrap." He made the flames turn into a small bird and shoot toward Wanda. Wanda moved her head, then roared in rage. Pyro's lamp exploded, and millions of tiny fragments came flying after him. Pyro bolted behind the door, where the fragments embedded themselves, then darted down the stairs, taking them in fours. 

Wanda raced after him, the banister coming to life and reaching after him as she thundered down the stairs. Pietro appeared in front of her, trying to calm her down, but a banister wrapped tightly around his ankles. He fell over, and lay on the ground. 

"Wanda! Wanda let me go!" He shouted. 

Wanda didn't pay him any heed. "I'm going to tear that pyromaniac's head off!" She shrieked. "I've had enough of his shit!" 

Pietro began banging on the banister at warp speed. He slowly began to crack through it, but Wanda and Pyro were all ready going at it in the living room. Pietro screamed as a lion made out of fire came bounding in from the other room, with Wanda backing away from it. 

"What now, luv?" Pyro chuckled. The lion's feet were causing the floor to begin to burn up- but it was nothing he couldn't handle. 

Wanda, infuriated at being forced to back down shouted, "THIS!" 

The curtains ripped themselves from the windows and whipped around Pyro, knocking him off balance. This broke his concentration and the mound of fire that had been a lion simple burst into a large fire. Pietro squealed on the floor, and Wanda's eyes went wide with horror as the fire began eating up the dry tinder that was the boarding house. Wanda whipped around and focused all her energy into shattering he banister wound around her brother's legs. 

"We've got to get out of here!" Wanda shouted. 

"Cool your jets!" Pyro said loudly. "I can handle it!" 

"_We have to get out of here!_ This place is going to go up like kindling!" Wanda reiterated, this time more forcefully. 

If Pyro was going to argue again, he didn't because Wanda's surge of emotion made the back of his pack explode, effectively extending the fire into the living room. Pietro yanked the pack off of Pyro, threw it into the kitchen without thinking, and then darted upstairs. 

"What the bloody hell is he doing?" Pyro said. 

"Pietro's saving as much of his own shit as he can," Wanda snarled. "Outside! NOW!" 

Pyro didn't argue. After they had both left Pietro joined them, coughing. "Way too much smoke all ready. I saved our uniforms and a couple of personal things for everyone but there wasn't enough time. This place must be dry as a bone!" 

Wanda glanced at her brother, surprised. She hadn't expected that sort of reaction from him. Why she hadn't she couldn't put her finger on. 

"Shit, man!" Pyro said emphatically. "There goes the whole bloomin' 'ouse!" 

The boarding house was a sight to see. Wanda, Pietro and Pyro watched, stunned, as something in Mystique's old room exploded furiously, taking out most of one side of the house. 

"Does father have insurance to cover _that_?" Wanda asked. 

"They might call this arson Wanda," Pietro said. "We'd get nothing." 

The three teens stared at the old house as it burned down. 

- 

Remy had never ridden so fast on a bike in all his life. His motorcycle was roaring as he tore down the street. Magneto might be at the old Acolyte's base, and he had to find him. He had to save Rogue. He was going well over the speed limit, but the way to the base wasn't on the beaten track. He wouldn't run into any cars. 

That's why the headlights barreling towards him caused him to jerk off of the road. He flew off his bike, which spiraled through the air, aiming to land on him one he had landed. Remy never his the ground, however, and neither did his bike. The jeep that had come towards him skidded to a halt, and the three ragtag occupants seemed frazzled, but unharmed as well. 

Remy felt himself lowered to the ground gently, and his bike was set on the side of the road. Remy stood up, staggered then watched as one of the occupants of the jeep leaped out of his seat in the back, and landed right in front of him. 

"Yo! Lookit this! It's Gambit!" Toad said, straightening up. "Kitty actually gave him your note." 

"Why wouldn't she?" Lance called out from the car, irritably. "Hey, are you all right?" He shouted over to Gambit. 

"_Oui_," Gambit murmured. "_Merci beaucoup _Lance, but what de hell are you doin' here?" 

"Looking for me, my young friend." 

Remy had never felt more relieved in his life to see Magneto drop out of the sky. Oddly Magneto wasn't dressed in his full helmet and cape getup, but was in a crisp white shirt and slacks. "_Monsuier _Lensherr, please, I need your help-" 

"I know all about Rogue," Magneto said, gesturing at Lance and the others. "They informed me. I was on my way to the Institute, but I was going to stop by the boarding house first." 

"Please, dere's no time. Rogue's only got a hour, maybe less," Remy said desperately. 

Magneto held up a hand. "Calm yourself LeBeau. The boarding house can wait." He turned his head slightly and motioned at Lance. "You three head back to the boarding house. I'll meet you there." 

Lance nodded, Toad hopped in the back seat and Blob said, "Aye, aye sir!" Remy saw the tiniest of smiles tweak at the sides of Magneto's lips, but it was gone quickly. 

"We're not going to be nearly fast enough with that," Magneto said eyeing the motorcycle. As the boys in the jeep sped off, Magneto raised his arms once again, and a buried metal sphere tore out of the ground. It opened and Remy's motorcycle flew inside. "Get in." 

Though metal sphere was not his favorite way to travel, Remy scrambled in without hesitation. The sphere sealed up and within minutes he was exiting the cramped space, and letting Magneto in through the from gates of the mansion. 

"_Ohhhhhh_ no!" Logan said as he saw the two of them approach the house. "There is no way in HELL I'm letting him _and_ Mystique inta the house at the same time!" 

"Logan, get de fuck outta de way or I'll blow your face off," Remy said, drawing a card. "He's here to get dat collar offa Rogue!" 

Logan paused, then let out a grumpy snarl and charged back inside, "I cannot _believe_ the sort of day I'm havin'!" He mashed a com-link on the wall. "Chuck, your flaming college buddy is here!" 

"What? Erik-?" Came back the startled reply. 

"Yeah! The Cajun ran out and brought bucket head back with him!" Logan snapped. "Gumbo sez that Magneto can get the collar offa Rogue, so we're comin' down." 

Xavier had no time to reply, as Logan, Magneto and Remy go into the elevator and made their way to the infirmary. Beast met Magneto almost as he was stepping out. 

"Are you sure you can do something? There' a mechanism that will make it explode if we tamper with it-" Beast began, but Magneto merely smirked. 

"Dr. McCoy, _none_ of the mechanisms will work if they're all fused together." 

Mystique was holding Rogue in her arms, cradling the girl. Rogue had slipped into a coma not minutes before. "You'd better do this right Magnus," Mystique said sharply. "Or I swear to god-" 

"Raven, shut up," Magneto cut her off calmly. "I need to concentrate." 

He placed his hands on the cool metal surface of the collar. Kitty and Kurt, who were still there, were clinging to each other. Remy had his hands wrapped around his Bo staff so tightly that they had turned white. Beast, Logan and Xavier said nothing. They all felt the pulse of power that came from Magneto. Then there was a small, soft bang, that made Kitty scream and the others begin to panic, until they saw the melted mass of metal and the small, smoke filled force field that Magneto had created around the explosives. 

Rogue took in a shuddering breath, and almost instantly she looked better. She opened her eyes, and looked totally baffled by the group of people around her. "W- what the hell?" She said in a clear, forceful tone. 

"Rogue! You're better!" Kitty yelped in delight, throwing her arms around Rogue's neck and hugging her tightly. "Oh my god did you have me, like, scared out of my wits!" 

Rogue patted Kitty on the back awkwardly, observing the relieved faces of Kurt and Remy, but her attention was elsewhere. She was staring at Mystique, unable to say anything. Mystique closed her eyes and backed away. 

"I think it's time for me to go Charles," Mystique murmured. "Too much stress will not be beneficial to Rogue." 

"I agree Raven, though I'm not so sure you'd be a source of that stress," Xavier said honestly. 

Mystique shook her head. "Whether I am or I'm not, it's time for me to leave." 

"Very well then. Dr. McCoy will escort you out." 

Beast nodded, and gestured for Mystique to follow him. Rogue's view of Mystique was blocked by Kurt one instant, and Mystique was no where to be seen afterwards. 

"Kitty, Kurt, it's best that Rogue get some rest, so I suggest you leave-" Xavier said. 

"But _Professor_!" They chorused. 

"-so why don't you go spread the good news?" He concluded. 

Kitty and Kurt's faces lit up. Kurt was gone in an instant, and Kitty walked right out through the door. The Professor gave Logan a look. 

"You feelin' all right kid?" Logan asked. 

"Exhausted, but okay," Rogue sad. "Ah can't remember a whole lot towards the end. It's a big blur." 

"Don't worry too much about it stripes," Logan said comfortingly. "We'll leave you be for a while, but Hank's gonna be down here prodding you as soon as he's done taking out the trash- ow!" Logan rubbed his head. "Jeeze Chuck, I thought you gave mental _flicks_ not mental _punches._" 

Magneto smiled and straightened himself up. "Charles, I've been meaning to have a chat with you about something." He paused, clearly giving Xavier a mental message. One of Xavier's eyebrows sprung up. "I had hoped you and I could discuss it?" 

"Of course Erik. Let's go to my study. Come along Logan," Xavier said, wheeling out. "Let the two of them have some time together." 

Logan snorted at Magneto's back, and took one last glance at Rogue, making sure that she looked all right. Once he was assured that she was all in one piece, he followed Xavier and Magneto upstairs. 

Once they were alone Remy wrapped Rogue in a big bear hug, murmuring things in French. After a few minutes, though, Remy had fallen asleep in Rogue's arms. He slept for five hours that way. It was the first decent rest he had gotten in several weeks. 

- 

Blob, Toad and Lance returned to the boarding house only to see the last of the fires being put out by the Bayville fire department. They stared at the ashen pile in shock. Toad bounced out of the car, and hopped up to where the sign used to be. "Yo, this in _not_ cool!" He spun around and shook his fist. "It's all that crazy Pyro's fault you know! Man! That guy just keeps on screwing up everything!" 

"'Ey, don't blame it all on me frog," Pyro said as he, Pietro and Wanda approached. "Not my fault." 

"Oh, and I suppose it's all on me-" Wanda began furiously. 

"You were the one who attacked _me_ Sheila," Pyro shrugged. 

Wanda slapped him as hard as she could, sending Pyro staggering. "If you had for one minute acted like a decent human being _this_," she gestured at the house, "wouldn't have happened!" 

Toad straightened up. "Don't you dare blame it on my poor sweetie pie, Pyro. " He stood between Wanda and Pyro- the least safest place for a hundred miles. 

Blob picked up Toad and set him aside, then wedged himself between the two. 'Calm down. We don't need either of you burning the whole county down." 

"I can't burn anything without me pack!" Pyro said, shaking his head. "Where am I supposed to get another one of those?" 

"Where are we supposed to get another _house_?" Lance said unhappily. 

"Hey, be glad I got someofourshit out of there," Pietro said. 'I've got it hidden, so maybe they won't rule this arson and my Father _can_ claim the insurance. . ." 

"Father?" Wanda said. 

"Yeah, Wanda, we mentioned this, remember?" Pietro said, turning around. Then he said, "Oh," as he realized that Magneto was standing there, besides the jeep, looking mildly amused. "Father, I'm sorry. This is my fault. Wanda and Pyro were fighting and I wasn't able to stop them-" 

Magneto didn't look too awfully upset. "Don't worry Pietro. This is going to make things a little easier. I was worried that you weren't going to want to leave the boarding house, but now that there _isn't_ any boarding house, that isn't a problem." 

"Why would you want us to leave the boarding house in the first place Father?" Wanda asked. 

"Yeah, it's not like there are any other houses on sale in town that are big or isolated enough for a buncha mutants to live in," Lance interjected. 

"Or with a big enough kitchen," Blob added. 

"Yeah," Toad agreed. 

"There is one house," Magneto said. 

"Really? We're getting better digs?" Pyro said. "Sweet!" 

Magneto folded his arms. "Pietro, Blob, Lance, gather up the stuff Pietro managed to salvaged and load it into the jeep. Since there's nothing better to do we'll move in right away. The boys mumbled their agreement. 

"But father," Wanda said, making the boys pause, "_where_ are we moving to?" 

A smile twisted along Magneto's face. "To my new workplace. The Xavier Institute." 

__

_Author's note_: This episode amuses me. For some reason I love writing the brotherhood. They're just so. . . Amusing. 

This episode turned out to be at least four pages longer than I thought it would, but I just let it go. It was going so well, I just let it fly. The next episode is not nearly going to be as serious as some of its predecessors. In fact, I doubt it will be as serious as any of them. I plan on shedding some light on what's up with Jubilee, and arranging for a new student to come to the mansion. He/she has been mentioned very briefly, not directly, but even if you figure out _who_ it is, you might be surprised at what I do with him/her. I might hold over until season 6 to actually bring the new student over, and they might be just again mentioned in passing, instead of seriously considered in EP. 9. 

As of this Episode you've read over 150 pages of XME: S5. That's a small novels worth. The only thing that might be sadder than you reading it is the fact that I've taken time to _write_ over 150 pages of XME: S5. Yes, begin a fanatic is fun. 

I'd like to give a shout out to the people who have been reading this from episode one. I'd like to give a bigger shout out to the people who've been reviewing this from episode one, or have reviewed every episode since they've found XME: S5. You guys are my motivation to keep on writing, besides the fact that I adore X-Men, I'm always a sucker for compliments, and criticism too. 

If you guys have ever heard of the TV show _Gargoyles_ the Disney cartoon, please take some time out to read my other, MUCH SHORTER fan fic "A Future Lost." _Gargoyles_: Season one is coming out on DVD December seventh and I, like many diehard _Gargoyles _fans, will be buying it on that day, trying to make Disney do something more with the show. If you've never heard of it, but you like X-Men and fantasy books and Sci-fi, and all that sort of things, pick it up anyway. I promise that you'll love it. More importantly, I promise that you'll notice that one of the characters- Demona- is Mystique's like, long lost interdimenrsional twin sister. Plus they have mutates living in the New York sewers (thought that might be season 2, I can't remember). It's like a strange parallel universe to X-Men without being like X-Men at all. I'm very tempted o do a crossover fanfic for my own amusement. 

Now that I've shamelessly plugged _Gargoyles_ I'd like to once again thank everyone for reading. You've got at _least_ 4 more episodes of Season 5 (probably more), and Season 6- let's just say it's gonna be _wild_. 


	9. Episode 9: Love Thy Neighbor

_A/N: _Look! Finally there's a new episode! And just because it's so late you get an extra three pages! Rejoice! Plus, you not only get new pages- but you get illustrations! Yes, that's right, Season 5 is now illustrated. Or at least partially. I have character designs up here http:kare-san. Deviantart. com/ (cut out the spaces!!) for Illyana (in uniform) and Remy (civvies!). I plan on actually illustrating random scenes form the episodes from now on in. Aren't you glad? Yes you are. You know you are. 

I'm sorry. This was just a slow episode for me. The next one isn't looking very good either, because I have no bloody idea how to start it. I'm debating whether it's going to feature Sinister doing evil things to the Morlocks (which is a strong possibility) or if that will roll over to Season 6 (which is going t feature Sinister like nobody's business!). The bad news is, Season 5 is coming to a close within the nest three episodes. The _good_ news is that Season 6 is going to be even better than it's predecessor. Expect to see a _whole lot more_ of the 'New Mutants', and a lot of good old trauma for the older members of the team. Why will you see so much more of the new mutants? That's the question isn't it? Muwahahahahaha!

Oh, I just got a great idea for the next episode! Morlocks are going to wait! Episode ten is going to focus on Wanda and Mystique, and set up for the confrontation between the Hellions and the X-Men! Maybe I'll still hang onto the Morlocks.... No, they'd be better over in season 6. Muwahahahahahah!

I'm done now. If you've read this, you are a good, loyal fan. My notes are always the best indicator of what's going to happen. Like the one at the end of the story.

_Disclaimer:_ I don't own the X-Men. I won't until I'm a millionaire and I can bribe the right people. Ces't la vie.

_Love Thy Neighbor_

Jonothan Starsmore hid behind the garden wall, panting. He had his chest wrapped up tightly so that no light escaped and his mind was clouded to prevent detection. He could hear his pursuers following him. He was relying almost entirely on instinct, since thinking would cause his powers to activate to a large extant. He was exhausted from running for almost an hour straight. It was _hard_ to outrun Thunderbird! Skin was pretty tough to get past too, since he was like the hero Mr. Fantastic in some ways.

He wasn't worried too much about Skin, or Thunderbird for that matter. It was Jubilee that worried him. She had struggled to break from Emma's hold too hard in her first few weeks. Frost had reacted by shutting down parts of Jubilee's independent thinking. Now Jubilee was practically an avatar of the White Queen.

It was the focus of the White Queen's power on Jubilee that had allowed Jono to stretch her hold on him, to begin to think independently again. Now he knew why the White Queen hadn't pursued the female mutant in Britain she wanted to. Her influence had limits. Her control over Skin, Thunderbird and Jubilee was complete, but she couldn't keep it on all four of them at once.

The footsteps were getting louder now. Jono knew he had to get moving. Someone would figure out that they could use Catseye or Empath to track him via sent or emotion. They probably all ready had. Despite the fact that he was close to passing out, Jono began running again. He had only taken five steps when he heard her.

"JONO!"

Chamber spun around just in time to see Jubilee launch herself off of the garden wall. Jono turned again to start running, but Jubilee landed a few feet in front of him. With Frost in control, Jubilee's physical abilities had advanced. She was some sort of crazy, firework throwing ninja. The idea was amusing, but with Jubilee staring him down, it suddenly took on a very scary meaning.

"_I don't want to hurt you Jubes. Just le me pass,_" Jono said.

"You don't want to hurt me?" Jubilee snorted. "You've betrayed all of us!" She shouted, shooting off her powers.

"_How the bloody hell did I betray you? I'm just tryin' t' leave!"_ Jono dodged her outbursts.

It was obvious that Jubilee didn't understand that rational. "We're a team Jono! You don't just up and leave your teammates!"

"_Jubilee you're being controlled by Frost! That's her speaking, not **you**. What happened to the Jubilee who would stop at nothing to get back to Xavier's? The one who tried to run away after three days here?_" They were circling each other now, Jono slowly unwinding his wrappings.

"What happened to the Chamber I knew? The one who was my friend? The one who promised he'd stick by me?"

_"I'm still the same bloke!_" Jono said desperately. "_I've just broken out from Frost's hold. I can help you do it too!_"

Jubilee stopped circling. "Ms. Frost is a good woman. She hasn't 'forced' herself on any of us!"

Jono shook his head. _"You're saying that because she's brainwashed you. Jubilee, I know you're **really** in there somewhere so listen to me. I have to get out of here so I can get help for you, Skin, and Thunderbird. You're all Frost's puppets, and she's not going to ever let you go. So, I'm sorry but I have to do this-_" Jono fired a gentle blast of telekinetic energy at Jubilee, aiming to knock her over. Jubilee screamed as the blast hit her, and collapsed. Jono, horror struck, rushed to her side. _"Jubes? Jubes? What the bloody hell did I do?_"

Suddenly Jubilee's arms locked around Jono's head, and she cracked his forehead against her kneecap. Jono managed to pull away from her, but only to get fireworks in the face. Blinded, and with his head throbbing, Jono tried to stagger off, but Jubilee brought both her fists across the back of his neck. Defeated, Jono crumpled as the world went black around him.

A few seconds later Thunderbird, Roulette, and Manuel came tromping onto the scene. Manuel smirked when he saw Jubilee hauling Jono's limp form up. "Well, well, well," he smirked. "Proudstar, why don't you help Jubilee with the traitor?"

The large native America boy gave a tiny half nod and hauled Jono up onto one shoulder. Jubilee dusted off her yellow jacket. "He was trying to feed me some sort of bullshit about Ms. Frost. He must be sick, or something," she said, concern showing on her face. "Maybe someone is controlling his mind?"

"It _is_ possible," Roulette said. "Of course, he could have just been making it all up himself. You never know. I never trusted Starsmore anyway."

"On the contrary, Roulette. Jono's mind _has_ been taken over."

All of the students turned to look at Emma Frost. Manuel and Roulette both seemed quite surprise at her news. "He's being controlled?" Manuel said skeptically.

"Yes," Emma said gravely. She held up Jono's head, then let it drop. "His mind is being controlled by Charles Xavier. I can sense it."

Jubilee looked like she'd been punched. "Professor Xavier? No! He wouldn't do that! _Why_ would he do that?"

Emma looked distressed. "I don't know. . . I'm afraid that Charles might see me as competition. He doesn't want another school for mutants cutting into his monopoly. He wants to keep the mutants of the world under his control, so he can create a 'Brave New World' for himself." Emma paused as she saw Jubilee shake her head. "I know it's hard for you to think of your old teacher in a bad light, but do you remember how dead set you were against staying here? Why do you think that was?"

"No. . ." Jubilee murmured. "He couldn't have been. . ."

"He wants to _force_ peace upon the world, and then be the man behind the scenes, pulling the strings," Emma said, placing a hand upon Jubilee's shoulder. "I try to shield all my students from Xavier's influence, but Jono, being a telepath, has always been hard for me to shield. Obviously, with my protection extended over all of you, I wasn't strong enough to protect Chamber." She bowed her head.

"What can we do?" Jubilee said. "We have to help Jono! We have to stop the Professor!"

"We're not able to stop him now," Emma said. "We can protect Jono from further contamination by placing a neural inhibitor on him. It will cut off his ability to communicate, but it's all I can do at the moment. . ." She looked sadly down at Jubilee.

"There has to be some way-" Jubilee began.

Emma shook her head. "We will start training harder. In a few weeks, perhaps a few months, we will confront Xavier and his students. We will show them no mercy, because they will not show mercy to us," Emma said darkly. "They have all been brainwashed by Xavier. They are his little army now. He has even joined forces with his former foe, Magneto, in order to strengthen his army. Together they will brainwash the masses and conquer those who resist Xavier's hold. We are the only thing standing in their way. We _must_ prevent them from carrying out their plans."

"Yes," Jubilee said quietly. "We have to stop him," she repeated.

"Take Jono back to the house," the White Queen said to Jubilee and Thunderbird. "Skin will meet you inside. He's got the inhibitor ready for you."

Thunderbird and Jubilee began walking off to the house. Roulette and Manuel stayed behind.

"That was some story Ms. Frost," Manuel commented. "So, we're really going to take on Xavier? He's got a lot more people than we do."

"We have an ace in the hole," Emma said, gesturing at Jubilee's back. "She will certainly fight against Xavier's lot with all he strength, but they won't want to hurt her."

Roulette smirked. "They won't know we're coming either. We know their strengths, their weaknesses, and they don't know who we are. The odds aren't in their favor."

-----------------------

"WHAT? Professor, you can't be serious!" Scott exploded. "The brotherhood, coming to live with us? Magneto teaching? Hello, this guy kidnapped us, brainwashed us- his own _daughter_ is still brainwashed. . ."

"Scott, calm down, I'm sure the professor has a good reason for doing this," Jean said, holding onto Scott's arm to prevent him from leaping over the desk.

Elsewhere in the room, the other students were reacting to the news. Some were taking it a little harder than the others.

Rogue looked at Kitty then down at her gloves, which she was playing with. Casually she said, "If Lance had his own room y'all are goin' _there_ t' do anythang. D'ya hea meh?"

"Rogue-! What kind of a girl do you think I am?" Kitty said.

"A good gal datin' a bad boy," Rogue replied.

"Yeah? And what about you and Remy?"

"Hey, we've got complications, remebah?" Rogue held out her hand. "Kinda makes it hard t' do anythang. 'Specially knowin' that a power inhibitor will kill meh."

"Wait- if you could touch him-"

"Ah'd would've made up some sort of signal," Rogue said, totally deadpan.

"Ah, god!" Kitty squealed.

Warren was absolutely fuming. "That maniac is going to teach here? I came here because I didn't want to _join his side. _Do you know what he did to me in New York? He turned everyone against me, nearly made me kill a little girl. . ."

"Comrade, thinkink on dees too much is no good. Remember, I was on Magneto's side," Colossus said. "He threatened my family eef I did not cooperate weeth him. I agree, is not good man, but not bad man either. He has made deh wrong decisions, and perhaps dees will be first good one, no?"

Warren grumbled something, that sounded like, "Why the sudden change, anyway?" Then was silent.

Gambit could be seen over in the corner, playing with his cards and snickering at the people who were panicking. Kurt was standing next to him. "Vhat are you laughing about?"

"De whole lot of dem, havin' a heart attack. De Brotherhood are just mutants like us. Dey aren't more or less dangerous. Bah, Remy know for a fact dat de whole lot o' dem are really good guys wit' hygiene problems. De only one you haveta worry 'bout is Pyro. He's genuinely crazy."

"And Wanda isn't?" Kurt said, curiously.

"No, she's jus' got one helluva temper," Remy waved it off. "You should know dat. Didn't you talk to her when yo' mother was marble?"

"How did you know about dhat?" Kurt wondered.

Remy smirked. "Rogue an' I did a lot o' talkin' 'bout our parents de first time we were in Nawlins. She was none too happy 'bout what she did, but she t'ought dat if she was given a second chance, she'd probably do it again. Poor girl. Mystique really got her messed up. T'ough, mebbe Rogue's forgiven her. She didn't mention dat Christmas card t' me at all."

Kurt nodded. Then sighed. "I shouldn't have been so. . .closed to her after dhat."

"Don' worry _mon ami_. I know she forgave you fo' dat a long time ago," Remy clapped him on the back. "If you'll excuse me, I t'ink I'm gonna go pester her." He got up, and sauntered over to Rogue.

Kurt smirked. Remy was trying his best to get over Rogue's brush with death, but he couldn't help but appear by her side every few minutes. It was like he had some sort of homing device, strictly tuned into her. Remy briefly mentioned that was because of his empathy, but Kurt thought it was more of a playful stalking thing. Kurt sighed. He hadn't seen Amanda in a few days now, and she hadn't called. He knew she was busy over the weekend, but he still wanted to see her for a little bit. Vowing to call later, Kurt observed the continuing chaos in the room.

"Magneto?" Bobby exclaimed. "As in cape wearing, helmet toting, "we are the future, bow before us homo inferior," forcing evolution, brainwashing, scary ass powerful _Magneto_?"

He had made a small ice sculpture with his speech, and every time he mentioned a new aspect the sculpture changed. In the end Magneto was looking much like some sort of vampiric demon with a mustache and uniform that resembled Hitler's.

"Yes popsicle," Tabitha said, poking at the sculpture. "There's only one of him, thankfully."

"Dude, has the professor totally lost it?"

"Hey, in my opinion Magneto's better than Mystique," Tabitha shrugged. "She's a bitch."

"He's a fanatic!"

"I'd rather be taught by a fanatic than a bitch. Bitches are cranky no matter what you do. Fanatics are only cranky if you say something against their point of view."

Bobby and Tabitha argued back and forth on the point for some time, and a few of the other students began to chime in what they thought. Alex looked very apprehensive and Illyana was picking up some of his mood. They both did not want Magneto at the mansion, and you could sense it from a mile away. The fact that every so often Alex could be heard telling Illyana that under no circumstances should she summon a demon of any size in Magneto's room confirmed it.

"I can't believe you'd DO this professor!" Scott was shouting. "The brotherhood are nothing but ruffians and Magneto is an egomaniac who wants to take over the world!"

"Scott, nothing you say is going to change my decision. Erik is a friend of mine. Despite of differences, we have a lot of respect for each other. Also, the Apocalypse incident changed him greatly."

"As it obviously changed you!" Scott exploded. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you-"

Scott continued to speak but nothing came out of his mouth. Scott whirled around and looked accusingly at Jean. She was red with anger. "That is absolutely _enough_," she said finally. "You're overreacting. You just can't stand the thought of Lance living here again and threatening your 'macho image'. If you're going to act like a fifth grader you know where Bayville Elementary is." Scott looked furious and hurt. Though the rest of the students didn't hear him say anything Jean's expression suddenly changed. "Are you STILL on about that? Scott it's none of your concern! It was the professor's decision, _I_ respect it and _you_ should too. You're having more of a problem with it than I am." She paused again, as Scott was gesturing furiously. "Well, with the way you're acting I'm not sure he should make you team leader."

That caught most everyone's attention. "Scott's officially team leader? Instead of just, you know, assumed team leader?" Tabitha flashed him a thumbs up. "Way to go Slim."

Bobby, in the back, groaned. "Aw man, now we'll never get any rest."

There was scattered laughter. Scott looked slightly embarrassed. Jean released his vocal chords and he calmed down quickly. "I'm not the only one," he said sheepishly.

"Actually, now is a good a time as any to announce the teams," the Professor said. "I was planning on doing it fairly soon." Storm, Logan and Beast, who had been standing behind Xavier's desk stepped forward. "Dr. McCoy and I are home base. We will conduct things from the mansion and on occasion accompany one team or another as we deem necessary. Ms. Munroe," he gestured at Ororo and she stepped up, "Will be the advisor of the Gold Team. Your team leader is Scott and his co-leader is Jean. Gambit, Shadowcat, Boom Boom, Magick, Berserker, Amara, and Iceman are all members of the gold team."

Tabitha and Bobby flashed each other grins and thumbs up. Scott mentally groaned. The professor was clearly trying to give him a migraine. The two of them together was going to take every ounce of Scott's patience- if Remy didn't destroy it all first. Gambit was a wonderful fighter but he wasn't partial to orders. Scott did notice that besides he and Jean everyone who had some sort of romantic relationship was split up. He and Alex, and Colossus and Illyana were also on separate teams. That was probably for the best.

"The Blue team," Xavier began, "Consists of everyone I have not mentioned: Angel, Colossus, Cannonball, Sunspot, Havoc, Multiple man, Nightcrawler and Rogue," he gestured at Logan. "Logan is the team advisor and Rogue is team leader, co-leader being Kurt."

Both Kurt and Rogue looked thunderstruck, Rogue slightly more so. Remy was slapping her on the back and congratulating her, but Rogue looked more like she had just been handed a ticking time bomb. Kitty looked slightly disappointed. That is, until Xavier made his next statement.

"Kitty will also be acting as the home base's special liaison to both teams. Occasionally she will join the Blue team on missions, depending on what we require."

"Woo hoo!" Kitty said, enthusiastically. Kurt congratulated her, and after a nudge from Remy, Rogue did too. She still looked dazed.

Charles paused for a second, touching his right hand to his temple. Then he nodded to Ororo. Ororo nodded back, and walked to the door. "X-Men, please welcome your new classmates."

Ororo opened the door, and the ragtag Brotherhood glanced into the room. Magneto, dressed crisply in a suit and tie walked over to the Professor and shook his hand.

"He's scarier in the suit," Bobby intoned.

The Brotherhood entered slowly. Blob was carrying most of the luggage and Toad, who was resting on one of his shoulders. Lance was carrying his own stuff, which he almost dropped as he tried to give an awkward thumbs-up to Kitty. Pietro was looking smug and sneered at Scott. Jean could see a slight twitch in Scott's hand, and promptly latched onto it. Pyro was looking around the room, sizing it up. He occasionally made a comment like "The woodwork's nice, but how does it holdup to heat?" Wanda was clutching one medium sized suitcase, and frowning. It looked like this was almost the last place she wanted to be. Kurt noticed that after her initial glance around the room her gaze dropped. Rogue looked at him, then Gambit and gave them both quick nods. Kurt raised an eyebrow, but when Rogue and Gambit broke form the circle of mansion students along the walls, he began to understand and followed them.

Rogue held out her hand to Pietro. "Seems like Ah jus' beat y'all t' th' inevitable," Rogue said with a shrug. "Welcome t' the Xavier Institute."

Pietro eyed her hand to make sure that it was gloved than shook it. "If St. John hadn't torched the boarding house. . ." He began, shooting a dirty look at Pyro. Then he sighed. "Well, maybe it's better to have a united front anyway."

Remy was all ready having a full blown conversation with Lance. "So, _mon ami_," he said slapping Lance on the back, "if you get your own room, den you an' Kitty can use it an' Rogue an' I c'n keep de other one, right?"

"_Remy!_" Rogue snapped.

Lance chuckled. "Yeah, sure," he smirked. "That prevents me from worrying about what would happen if Rogue walked in on us."

Kurt found himself walking towards Wanda. "I could take dhat for you," he reached out to take her bag. Wanda snatched it back.

"It's fine. I'll take care of it," she muttered.

"You're sure-" Kurt began.

"I'm _fine_. Go play with Pyro," Wanda said irritably.

Magneto turned to face the student body. "I know that in the past we have had our differences. I have made mistakes, and now I will try to make amends for them." He paused. Scott and Warren were mumbling to each other. Magneto took this in stride. He had been expecting it after all. "I don't expect that the adjustment to this new situation will be easy, but the Brotherhood and X-Men have worked together before- most admirably- and I expect that we can do it again. Living together will be a new and. . . interesting challenge."

"We're gonna t' kill each other," Sam murmured to Alex. "Scott's ready t' blow Magneto away right now."

"I'm so tempted to open a portal under his feet," Illyana began, "but I wouldn't wish the wrath of demons on _anyone_. Not even him." She glanced over at Alex. "You had 'fun' time with him. How are you dealing with this?"

Alex laughed. "I'm using up a lot of willpower. The Brotherhood did help us against Apocalypse," Alex admitted begrudgingly. "I don't like the idea of Magneto teaching though."

Magneto continued, whether he was listening to the X-men's comments or not. "Pietro and Lance will co-lead the Brotherhood in drills," he added. "And I'd like to thank Rogue, Remy and Kurt for their efforts to mingle. Despite the reactions of some members of the Brotherhood," he frowned briefly at Wanda, "it is appreciated."

Rogue shrugged and said nothing, Remy flashed a thumbs up at Magneto, and Kurt smiled weakly, glancing back at Wanda curiously. Wanda gave him a steely look and Kurt looked away. Xavier interrupted any further conversation.

"I will show you to your rooms personally, with Erik and Ororo. You'll find that here you have considerable more responsibilities than at the Boarding House, but many more privileges as well. Still," Xavier folded his fingers together, "St. John, I'm going to have to ask you to leave your equipment with Logan. He will put it with your uniform."

"What? You've got to be jokin'!" Pyro exploded.

"Considering what happened at the Boarding House," Magneto said darkly, "find yourself fortunate that I did not melt it down into useless scrap metal instead."

Pyro scowled, took his backpack off, and gave it to Logan, grumbling the whole time. Magneto smiled smugly, and Xavier nodded. "Well, then, everyone's dismissed. We'll show you to your rooms and then you're allowed to do what you will. Your first Danger Room session is tonight at eight-thirty. Members of the Senior class of X-Men- you will also be required to attend." Scott rolled his eyes, then winced as Jean gave him a mental flick.

_Rogue,_ The professor's voice sounded in her head as he gathered the Brotherhood to him. _Thank you. Your performance today doubly assures me that I made the right choice in making you team leader. _

_Yeah. . . about that-_ Rogue began.

_I have my reasons Rogue. Trust me._

Rogue gave off a feeling of uncertainty, but let it lie at that. _All Ah did was talk t' Pietro._

_You opened communications. Which is more than I can say for other team leaders. . ._ Xavier said wryly.

_Ah lived with them, an' if it wasn't fah them Ah mighta died. 'Sides, Kitty an' Lance are datin'. Ah'm used t' them. It wasn't a stretch on mah part._

Xavier sighed, then chuckled and said no more.

------------------------

_Oh bloody fucking hell._

Jono woke up with the inhibitor on him and the worst headache of his young life. He looked around and recognized the area as the containment facility that Ms. Frost had built into the school. It was a small cell, with concrete and metal walls that were at least two feet thick. Getting up, he walked over to what appeared to be some sort of green force field covering the only way in. He gingerly touched it with one finger. The field surged, encompassing him and zapping him with some sort of electrical power.

_AH! FUCK! _He mentally screamed. His chest heaved and knocked him away backwards. Jono fell to his knees, gasping. _Gotta get help_. He reached out with his mental powers and- nothing. Frantic, Jono reached out again, then a third time. He couldn't feel any minds around him at all. _This is NOT happening._

Jono then realized there was something attached to his head. He touched it very cautiously, then tried to pry it off. It was some sort of neural inhibitor, but no matter what he tried- physical force, telekinesis or a combination of the two- it would not come off.

"Take it easy Jono."

It was at that point in time that Jono realized that there was someone else down in the containment area. Jubilee was sitting along the wall across from his cell. _Jubes! You've gotta get me **out** of here!_ He mentally shouted. Then he smacked himself. _She can't here me because o' this ruddy thing!_ He pried at the inhibitor once more.

"Stop doing that! You're only going to hurt yourself!" Jubilee said, concerned.

_You're bloody brainwashed. Do you honestly think I'm going to listen to you?_ Jono retorted. _Oh that's right, I've become a mute. _He pointed to his eye. _I'M_ he thought loudly. He shook his head 'no' and waved his arms in a 'no way' sort of move. _NOT_.He pointed to his ear. _LISTENING_. He pointed at her. _TO YOU._

"Jono, I'm only looking out for your safety," Jubilee said, getting the gist of what he was trying to say.

He shook his head violently, pointed at her, tapped his head, then made the 'crazy' sign by twirling his right pointer finger and pointing to her with his left. Jubilee raised an eyebrow.

Jubilee got up and walked to the very front of the force field she almost put her hands on it but Jono's frantic waving made her stop. "You've been brainwashed by Xavier. Ms. Frost is going to fix you up, don't you worry. We're going to stop the professor from doing this ever again."

Jono began knocking his head against the wall.

"You don't have to feel stupid! Professor Xavier is a powerful telepath. I'm not sure even Ms. Frost can stand up to him."

Jono, suddenly figuring out a good way to communicate, used his powers to burn letters into the wall. When he was done he stepped aside and Jubilee read what he had written:

**I hope he fries her brain like bacon.**

Startled at the violent thoughts of her friend, Jubilee stepped backwards. The neural inhibitor was supposed to be blocking out Xavier's influence. Jono scribbled something more on the wall, and that made Jubilee even more nervous.

**Frost has brainwashed you, Skin and Thunderbird and is going to use you to destroy Xavier and the X-Men. Are you really going to betray your friends like that? All you have is Ms. Frost's words to go on and since when has she been straight with you?**

The Asian girl looked even more startled by this. She opened her mouth to say something but her eyes glazed over and she walked stiffly out of the room. Jono cursed mentally, sparks flying from his chest. He knew what that meant.

"You really shouldn't try that sort of thing, dear. It just makes me mad."

_Well la-di-dah,_ Jono thought rolling his eyes.

Frost smiled at him. _Just because you can't talk telepathically doesn't mean I can't hear you._

Jono thought nothing, but made a rude British gesture with his hands.

"Temper, temper," his former teacher scolded. "That just might get you hurt." She slapped him mentally and he reeled backwards. "Now be a good boy and cooperate or there will be more where that came from." She turned on her heels and left the room with a click-click-clicking noise.

Jono sat dejectedly in the corner of his cell and buried his face in his hands. It was hopeless. He couldn't call for help, the cell was keeping his powers somewhat suppressed so he couldn't just break through the walls, and his inhibitor prevented all but the most rudimentary of communication. _Not that it helps me in Frost's little Borg school. . ._ He thought miserably.

He needed a way out and he needed it fast.

--------------------------

Wanda was a bit shocked by the sheer size of the rooms at Xavier's. She had been given her own room, due to the volatile nature of her powers. Someone had clearly set up the rooms in advance. There was a black meditation mat in one corner, the curtains were dark and would filter out most of the light when needed and the light was an adjustable one. There was also a night stand nearly identical to the one she had in the Brotherhood house. On it was a little note from Xavier and the staff, welcoming her to the mansion. Wanda dropped her bags in the room, shoved the note in the night stand drawer and started unpacking.

Down the hallway, Blob and Toad were examining their new room.

"Yo! We got a balcony!" Toad said eagerly. He looked down and whistled. "That's pretty far. I wonder if I could jump down there and back. Whadda you think?"

Blob was more focused on examining the stability of the king-sized bed that had been put in the room for his convenience. His last bed frame had broken the first night he had slept on it. He sat down, testing his weight. The mattress buckled, but the steel and concrete bed frame didn't. "That is cool!" He said with a stupid grin.

"Yeah?" Toad said, still looking out the window. "I think I'll go for it then."

Blob looked up, confused. "Huh?"

Toad had already launched himself out of the window with a loud "Yaaaaaa!"

"What the fuck?" Blob said loudly. He looked at the widow, dumbfounded. There was a loud crash and Blob waddled over as fast as he could. "Toad?"

In a nearby tree, in a position that was impossible for any normal human, Toad was stuck in the branches. His tongue was tangled up in the tree and he glared at Blob. "Hanks ha hlot hahsshole."

Blob snickered.

"Whatthehellareyoudoing?" Blob looked to his right and saw Pietro sticking his head out the window. The speed demon looked less than happy to see Toad caught in the tree. "Are you _trying_ to make us all look like a bunch of idiots? Or are you just accidentally an expert on it?"

Toad didn't want to bother with trying to talk, so he just weakly flipped bird.

Pietro scowled. Slamming the doors to his balcony her walked back into his room and looked it over. It had taken him just moments to unpack, once he had decided to. He had taken a couple of trips around the mansion first and a catnap. Everything seemed fairly cozy, so he decided to head downstairs to get some lunch. "Unpacking is hard work," he explained to himself.

He whizzed past St. John, who had basically thrown his stuff all around his room and decided that he too wanted to get something to eat. "'Ey! Watchit!" Pyro shouted as Pietro clipped him on the shoulder. "Bloody idjit," he grumbled.

Pietro also shot by Rogue, who was heading to her room after finally recovering from shock. When Quicksilver passed a statuette on Rogue's side of the hall began teetering dangerously, then started to fall. Rogue dove, caught it, then placed it back on it's pedestal. "HEY_! No destructive powahas in th' house Pietro!"_ She shouted, hoping he was still in earshot. Rogue shook her head. "This is gonna be so goddamn hard to adjust to."

Rogue pushed open the door to her room. She was shaking her head and looking at her boots when she noticed a pair of paints on the floor that didn't belong to her and looked way too big for Kitty. There was a muffled squeak and Rogue looked up.

"_Y'all have GOT t' beh shittin' meh!_" Rogue exploded. A startled Lance had Kitty pinned to the wall. Her legs were wrapped around his waist, and her shirt had been discarded somewhere. Lance was in only his boxers. He and Kitty were both still locking-lips, though now they both had a deer-in-the-headlights sort of expression on. "Did Ah not tell y'all t' use _his room_?"

"Rogue? Is something the matter?"

All of the occupants of the room froze when they heard Hank's voice. Rogue reacted first. She slammed the door, locked it, and kicked Lance's stuff under Kitty's bed. "Closet. _NOW_." She ordered. Kitty obeyed using her phasing powers without a second thought. Rogue pulled off her see-through green over-shirt and tossed it over the other side of her bed, kicking her shoes and socks off in the same motion. She then pulled the straps of her tank top down past her shoulders and grabbed her personal towel, wrapping it around her body. She had just finished when Hank knocked on the door.

"Rogue? Is everything all right in there?"

Rogue, clutching the towel, clicked open the door and opened it slowly and slightly. "Yeah. Ah'm just gettin' ready t' take a showah," she grumbled. "Ah need it t' calm mah nerves. Why in hell did Xavier make meh a team captain?" Rogue demanded.

Beast smiled. "It might seem a bit overwhelming now, but I'm sure you'll rise to the challenge. You're a good kid Rogue." He then looked a little sheepish and glanced over her attire- or apparent lack thereof. "I suppose I should leave you alone. . . Oh! We're going to have a big barbecue tomorrow to celebrate the new union of the two teams. Would you like to help me go shopping? Remy said you might."

"Sure Hank," she said without thinking, then regretted it. She really didn't want to go anywhere tomorrow. "What time?"

"I was thinking about ten we'd head out. We've gotta get a _lot_ of food," he chuckled.

Rogue echoed the laugh. "Great. Tomorrow. Ten. Sounds wonderful. Now, Ah really do wanna take mah showah. . ."

Hank nodded and within a few seconds he was off. Rogue shut the door and Kitty poked her head out of the closet.

"Is he gone?"

"Yes he's gone!" Rogue shouted. "It's not _him_ you should be worried about though!" She threw down her towel. "Ah'm gonna beat you six ways 'till Sund'y!"

Kitty yelped in fear and disappeared back into the closet. Rogue stormed over and pounded on it.

"Alvers, get yah clothes and get yah sorry ass outta mah room!"

"But Rogue. . ."

"But Rogue nothin'!" The southerner snapped. "Ah may haveta go take a showah now t' covah up fah y'all but Ah'm sure as hell _not_ comin' back into a room that smells like sex between you two! OUT!"

Lance opened the closet door and collected his stuff. He put all of his clothes back on a bit awkwardly. While Rogue stared him down he left the room. "Thanks for covering for us," he said as he stepped out of the door.

Rogue slammed it in his face.

"Now," Rogue rounded on the closet, "as fah you." She threw the door open.

The closet was empty. It looked like Kitty had taken a shirt off a hanger, put it on and left. Rogue had her suspicions as to where Kitty might be headed.

"Ah. Need. Mah. Own. Room." She picked up her shower stuff, put on her robe and stalked off into the bathroom. She was certainly wanted that shower now.

-------------------

"Scott, you need to settle down." Jean's soft tones hardly cut through the young man's temper. "Look, if _Rogue_ can make an effort to get along with them that _you _can too-"

"Rogue was one of them! Of course she can get along with them! She lived with them before!"

"Scott-"

"Of course she had to go and make me look like a jerk by acting all friendly-"

_Mr. Summers, you will shut your mouth right now or so help me god I'll give you nightmares for years to come_, Jean snapped, mentally slapping him. _Do you have any idea what you're saying?_

Scott began to protest back mentally. _It's not fair that Rogue gets a higher place than you. You have more experience and Rogue's not nearly as levelheaded in a battle. You should have been the other team leader. Xavier's gone totally off his rocker! He's letting our enemies into the house-_

_Scott Summers, I never thought I'd see the day when your childish anger overrode your common sense, but clearly I underestimated you. With all that's going on do you think it's SAFE for the Brotherhood to be out on their own? Kelley's getting more and more support behind him and people have been up in arms since the whole Apocalypse thing._ Jean said with a huff. _If you can't get over your little spats with a couple of kids that have had it rougher than you have, then you're not who I thought you were- you're just like the Brotherhood boys._ Scott stopped, his pride hurt. Jean continued walking, not missing a beat.

"Jean! Jean, wait!"

He rushed down the hall after her, much to the amusement of Pyro. He was walking out of the kitchen, munching on a sandwich that looked slightly charred. "Someone's sleepin' alone tonight," he chuckled deeply. He heard a disgusted snort from behind him and smiled. "Sheila," his grin widened as he beheld Wanda walking towards him, "'ow d'ya like our new accommodations?"

"I'd like them better if they didn't include _you_," she snapped firmly. A blue light engulfed his sandwich. The fillings shot out and splattered all over the front of Pyro's shirt.

"'Ey now! That's not fair!" He scowled. Pulling a lighter he carried around for emergencies- and other things- he flicked his thumb. A small flame sprang up. That was all he needed. Pyro created a small flaming ball and-

"Just vhat do you think you're doing?" Kurt demanded as he teleported down from the top of the stairs. Pyro scowled and made the ball of flames dissipate. Kurt growled at him, "Dhat's how you burned down dhe Boarding house. I doubt Xavier and Magneto will let it go so easily if you burn down dhe mansion too."

"Bah, you're just worried I'd singe your pretty blue fur," Pyro chortled. "Xavier's got a regular circus 'ere. All sorts of sideshow freaks-"

There was a near explosion of blue light and Pyro slammed into the wall behind him. Wanda looked surprised at herself. Kurt was in a state akin to shock. Pyro, now wearing his sandwich instead of eating it, looked a bit scared. He shuffled off without another word, leaving Kurt to stare at Wanda.

"What?" Wanda snarled. "I wanted him to go away." She stalked into the kitchen, just wishing Kurt would teleport away.

"Dhat was a little extreme for 'vanting him to go avay." Kurt said, having no intentions of leaving. He had always been somewhat _fascinated_ with Wanda in a way. She wasn't like any other member of the Brotherhood, brainwashed or not.

Wanda rolled her eyes. "Who are you, my mother? Look, Pyro doesn't understand a word you say unless you beat it into him," she grumbled. "He's an asshole and I don't know why my father puts up with his total bullshit." She opened the fridge, pulled out a bottle of water, and slammed the door shut. "You better start fireproofing the whole damn mansion." After taking a long swig she relaxed somewhat, then stormed towards the back door.

Kurt bounced on his heels. He was waiting for a phone call from Amanda. Since they were still dating without her parent's permission he wasn't allowed to call the house. Kurt checked the clock. Amanda always called him at 12:15 every other day when they had off. That way her parents weren't too suspicious. However, there had been total silence for a few weekends in a row now. Kurt had tried to seek her out in school, but they had conflicting schedules. He was beginning to worry. He'd ask one of the others to call for him, but her parents were fully aware that any calls from the Xavier Institute were from mutants, and they had caller ID. It wasn't worth the risk. Kurt looked up at the clock. He'd be going from phone to phone for nearly twenty minutes now. Amanda had always been prompt in the past. Kurt decided that he might as well give up- and chasing after Wanda was as good a pastime as any.

"Hey, vhy are you so grumpy?" Kurt asked as he trotted behind Wanda. She was all but jogging to an isolated area outdoors.

"I don't like it when people harass me!" She retorted without looking back.

"I'm not harassing you," Kurt said, offended. "I vas trying to help you back dhere! Vhy are you so hostile towards me all of a sudden? I thought dhat you and I got along fairly well!"

Wanda grumbled, "Well, isn't that wonderful?" She was startled when a cloud of smoke and an irked blue demon appeared before her.

"Vhat is going on vith you?" Kurt demanded. "You're acting like your brother! _He's _dhe one who von't give us the time of day. _You've_ helped me and my mother, and _you_ wanted to help us vith Apocalypse. Vhether you like it or not, ve're teammates now, and teammates_ talk_ to each other vhen dhey have problems!"

Wanda glared daggers at him, her hands lighting up. "You can't help me with my problems."

"And vhy not?"

"Because no one can!" Wanda snapped. "Honestly, do you think you could help me with _this_-?" She held up her glowing hands and the ground rippled beneath their feet. "Or maybe you think you can stop all the nightmares I've been having?"

"Nightmares?" Kurt said, his voice jumping up a few octaves. "About what?"

"Nonsense," she mumbled. "Just scary shit that's all in my fucked up head."

"Like?"

"I don't have to tell _you_ anything!" Wanda snapped. Kurt glanced down at her right hand, which she was squeezing the water bottle in so tightly her knuckles were white. She scowled at him, moved the water bottle to her other hand, and then proceeded to push past him.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "God, she's just like Rogue when she first moved in," he mumbled to himself. "I'll be around if you need to talk!" He shouted after her, then teleported back to the kitchen. When he got there, Bobby was handing Tabitha a soda, freshly chilled. Bobby jumped slightly at Kurt's entrance, but Tabitha, unfazed by loud noises, just smiled at him.

"What's up Blue?" She asked.

"Did Amanda happen to call?" Kurt asked hopefully.

Bobby shook his head. "Sorry man, I haven't heard anything."

Kurt looked at Tabitha, who shrugged. "Last I heard she was grounded big-time."

Kurt was surprised by this news. "Grounded?"

"Yeah," Tabitha counted on her fingers, "It's been almost a month now. She's not allowed to use the phone, no going out on weekends- nothing."

Kurt's ears and tail drooped. "Oh no. Dhey must have found out dhat ve vere still dating!" He smacked his forehead, "Aw man! Dhey're going to be even more pissed off about it now because ve vere keeping it a secret!"

"C'est la vie," Tabitha said, chugging her soda. "I can always give her tips on how to sneak out."

"No dhanks Tabitha. De last thing she needs is to get them even more furious," he moaned. "Dhis sucks!"

"I agree," Scott grumbled, pulling up a chair and sitting down. He looked dejected.

"Your girlfriend grounded too?" Bobby chimed in.

"More like grounding _me_," Scott said. "I have never been so razed by _anyone_ in all my life."

"And Jean can do it both verbally and mentally. Quite a double whammy for you I imagine, eh Shades?" Tabitha said. She and Bobby exchanged smiles.

Scott made a groaning sound and plunged his head into the grain of the table. Kurt sat down next to him. Blob walked into the kitchen, took one look at the state of the occupants and frowned.

"Well, this is depressing. Does the food stink that much here?" He waddled over to the fridge, opened it, and his eyes lit up like a child's at Christmas. "Wow! That's a nice spread!" He began hauling armfuls of food out of the fridge.

Tabitha nudged Bobby. "And that, my friend," she said, pointing at Blob with her coke bottle, "is the Mansion's grocery bill quadrupling in price before our eyes."

"Leave some for me, yo!" Toad said. He hopped right onto the table, then up onto Blob's shoulders. "Ooh! They're got that fancy mineral water!"

Scott looked up at the two brotherhood boys, but all he could find to say was, "Logan will hunt you down if he doesn't get dinner."

Blob and Toad paused, and Blob slowly put back about a third of the stuff he had taken out. Blob spread the rest out on the table, licked his lips and looked at Kurt and Scott. "Want a sandwich?" He offered.

The two X-Men glanced at each other for a moment then nodded at Blob.

--------------------------------

Jono had paced back and forth in his cell so many times he was sure he should have worn out a hole in the floor. He's tried doing that with his telekinesis- digging a hole out of the cell that is- but to no avail. The cell was quite effectively, breakout proof. He slid to the floor, one again trying to pry the inhibitor from his head, but to no avail. _Why won't this stupid bloody thing just come off!_ He shrieked to himself silently. His chest heaved, throwing a shower of golden sparks out into the air around him. _If my powers weren't dampened I might be able to rip this off, but not in this state._ He shook his head, and held it in his hands.

Then the idea hit him with the force of a cannon. He suppressed the thought immediately, winding it with other, faulty ideas of escape. The plan he was cooking up, he knew, would depend on two things. One, on Frost's inability to control the fundamental instincts of the people she held control over, and two- Frost NOT reading his mind and finding out what he was up to. Once Jono had everything sorted out he was finally able to lay down and get some rest. Hopefully help would be coming soon.

-----------------------------------

At eight-thirty sharp the senior members of the X-Men team stood lined up outside the Danger Room. Scott and Jean were on opposite sides of the line. Kitty was next to Scott, shying away from her roommate, who was down by Jean. Kurt was relaying his problems to Rogue, who look less and less interested as he continued, though Remy, behind him, was quite amused at Nightcrawler's distress. Colossus was standing at attention, next to Kitty, though he glanced at her every now and then, concerned about how jittery she seemed. Warren, sandwiched between Colossus and Remy, noticed this and rolled his eyes.

Pietro, obviously, was the first member of the Brotherhood to get to the Danger room. He was followed by Toad, then Lance, the slow but steady Blob, Wanda and then Pyro. He came swaggering in with a bold step, as he had been reunited with his dangerous backpack. He slapped his hands together. "Time for some fireworks, eh?" He grinned at his comrades. None of them responded. He shrugged it off, and proceeded to make little sculptures out of fire until Magneto and Xavier showed up.

"St. John, you are not to use that infernal device until you are in the Danger Room," Magneto barked. "Do I make myself clear?"

Pyro swallowed and made the fire fade away. "Yes sir," he said guiltily. The other Brotherhood boys smirked.

Xavier wheeled to the Danger Room door. "Today's exercise will test the new team leaders that have been put into place. Rogue, Scott, you will be directing the actions of the X-Men. Pietro, Lance, you will be directing the Brotherhood. The environment we have decided upon is a varied forest area, with several clearings, ideal for ranged and close combat. As the teams are slightly uneven, Kitty will be acting as a member of the Brotherhood in this particular scenario." Xavier turned to Kitty. "I trust that you have no complaints against this?"

Kitty shook her head and walked over to the other side of the room. She positioned herself between Lance and Blob. She looked at Rogue for the first time since earlier, but Rogue didn't seem too concerned with her. Rogue was actually looking over each member of the brotherhood and mouthing things to herself. Kitty was confused by this at first, but she quickly realized that Rogue was all ready trying to figure out what the team should do in the Danger Room.

"The name of the game is capture the flag," Magneto said. Logan seemed put out by this. He probably had wanted a head on head battle. "Each team has a flag. The X-men's flag is red, the Brotherhood's flag is blue. You are only allowed to have one person guarding the flag at any given time. There is also tagging involved in this game. Logan, Xavier, and I will judge who has 'tagged' a person fairly- it is a test of power against power. For example," Magneto hid a smile, "Pietro could not shoot across the field, tag all of the X-Men, and then just waltz in and take the flag while they watched from the sidelines."

Pietro scowled.

"And," Logan grunted, "while you're holdin' the flag you ain't allowed to use your powers to get it back home. This especially counts for Nightcrawler, Quicksilver, Toad, Warren and Shadowcat. Removin' the flag using special powers also does not count," he added for clarification. He nodded at Jean and Wanda so they knew who he meant.

"Ultimately, we will be the judges," Xavier said. "Remember that we are watching everything that you're doing." He opened the door to the Danger room. "You have five minutes to get your bearings. The green ground indicates no-man's-land, where anyone can tag an opposing team member if they best them using their powers. Red ground indicates the X-Men area, where only X-Men can tag, and blue ground indicates the Brotherhood area, where the same rule applies in reverse." He wheeled away from the entrance. "Good luck," he said.

The X-Men and Brotherhood filed in, splitting off into two groups. As soon as the X-Men were set up Scott looked at Kurt. "You guard the flag while we sort out our plan of attack."

"Aye, aye, fearless leader!" Kurt said, saluting then teleporting away.

"Okay guys," Scott looked determined. "We've got a couple of priority tags on the other team. Avalanche, Quicksilver, Pyro, Scarlet Witch- all of them are major threats." Scott folded his arms. "We need to take them down fast and first."

Jean glanced at Rogue, and noted that the girl looked uncertain. The others were listening intently to Scott, who continued.

"Colossus- I think you're the best suited to take care of Avalanche. Anything he can throw at you, you can bounce back from," Scott said. Rogue nodded at this. "Gambit, I think Pietro should be your target. You've probably spent more time with him than any of us, and I think a few well place explosions will slow him down."

"Wait, Scott," Rogue said. "Ah don' think you've got this sorted out right." Scott raised an eyebrow at her. "Quicksilver's not a big problem- if he grabs the flag, he ain't allow to run no more. He's not gonna risk that. Th' boy can't slow up for five seconds."

Scott pondered this for a few minutes. "That makes sense. Still I think Remy would be the best person to take care of him-" Rogue shook her head. "What?" Scott said, frowning.

"Toad."

Warren snorted. "Toad? What about him?"

"This environment is ideal for his powers. Remy's got the best aim, good agility, and the intimidation factor against Toad." Rogue pointed out.

"Toad's intimidated by all of us," Scott pointed out.

"Not really. He's intimidated by the X-Men as a team, but individually he'd take any of us on- except Remy. Gambit was one of Magneto's elite, therefore he was on Toad's side, but a LOT higher up."

"Toad did try to take me out in order to earn his place at Asteroid M, and he wasn't frightened at all to be facing me," Jean added.

"Okay! Fine. Gambit can take care of Toad," Scott shook his head. "But we still have to deal with Pyro and Wanda."

Rogue turned to Warren and pulled out some throwing stars, "Can you air deliver me over Pyro? Once we sever his pipelines he can't use his flame throwing power, that takes him out of the game."

"I'm impressed Rogue," Scott said, smiling. "That's a good idea. What about Wanda?"

Rogue let out a short laugh. "Don't piss her off."

"_Dat's_ a good idea," Gambit mused.

Jean smiled slightly at Rogue. "So, that leaves Blob?"

"Ah think they're going to have him or Avalanche guardin' th' flag," Rogue said. "Makes sense, right?"

"Yeah," Scott agreed. "But you never know. When you and Warren take to the air, try to scout out as much as you can. Oh- what about Kitty?"

"So long as we watch our flag, I don't think Kitty's going to be a threat. She can't use intangibility to run away with the flag," Jean said, "but she can use it to steal the flag."

"Right. Everyone pretty much knows what they're doing then?" Scott asked. "Jean, I think you should switch with Nightcrawler guarding the flag. Nightcrawler can target Quicksilver, and I'll focus on Blob."

Almost as soon as they had finished Xavier's voice came over the intercom. "Times up! Everyone take your positions- and Go!"

------------

It was about fifteen minutes into the game, and Avalanche and Kitty were panting for breath. They had spent the last three minutes trying to escape Colossus. "Jesus! He was never that fierce a fighter when he worked for Magneto!" Lance gasped. They were trying to escape the Red territory and retreat back into their safe Blue ground.

"Maybe because he didn't want to fight for him!" Kitty replied. A tree went sailing overhead. Kitty yelped, grabbed Lance and pulled him down through the ground. They emerged just on the outskirts of a battle between Rogue and Wanda in the middle of No-man's-land. Warren lay on the ground, unconscious. He had been called out several minutes earlier. He was the third person out- Pyro and Toad had been the first two. Rogue was hopping all over the place, having borrowed Toad's powers. She was skillfully avoiding bending trees, grabby grass, and random explosions.

"Gambit is out!" Logan's voice came over the loudspeaker.

"Shit!" Rogue swore, but whether it was over Gambit or the most recent explosion by her feet, Kitty wasn't sure.

Lance stood up. Summoning his powers Lance threw the ground where Rogue was just about to land. Kitty watched in awe as Rogue touched ground for only a moment, then was thrown up by the ground she had sought after. Rouge landed hard on her right arm.

"Ah! Ah god!" She shrieked. She grabbed her arm and cried out in anguish.

"Rogue!" Kitty said, totally forgetting which side she was supposed to be on. Lance tried to grab her arm and hold her back, but Kitty phased through his arm to rush over to her roommate's side. "Are you okay-?"

Rogue's hands moved in a blur. Kitty was too stunned to do anything about it. She felt the drain of energy and the world suddenly drained of color.

"Rogue you little bitch-" Lance shouted, half furious, half impressed. Logan announced that Kitty was out. Rogue smirked. They faced off, but a sound behind Rogue made her turn. A large, tree branch twisted and knocked her off her feet. Wanda loomed over her. Rogue put up her hands- then melted into the ground.

"What the- damnit!" Lance shouted. "Kitty's powers. Shit."

Wanda frowned. "We're down to four. "

"Colossus is out!" Magneto's voice echoed.

"I wonder who did _that_," Lance mused. "That leaves four on both sides." With a gush of wind, Pietro was standing by their sides. "Blob! Blob! BlobnotonlytookdownColossus, but he's gottheflag- and nothing can stop him!"

"What are we waiting here for?" Lance said, "Let's give him backup!"

--------

Over on the X-men's side things were chaotic. Cyclops was running after Blob, firing a nonstop barrage of optic blasts at him. Kurt was teleporting every ten feet or so, trying to wrestle the flag from Blob's grasp. Jean was floating about, trying to pry it away from him using telekinesis. Blob was having the time of his life.

"What? Can't take one little flag away from the Blob?" He laughed loudly. Then he yelped.

"What, you ain't never seen a head pop out of the ground?" Rogue said as she slid up into view. Blob, instead of trying to go around her, just proceeded to charge at her. Rogue, unprepared for this response, was frozen to the spot, but Kurt teleported her out of harms way at the last second.

Suddenly Wanda, Lance and Pietro came running- Pietro in the lead, of course. "Now what?" Cyclops yelled, as he pointed to them. Rogue looked around wildly.

"Hold 'em off!" She shouted. Rogue said something to Kurt and he vanished. Rogue hopped over the Brotherhood's heads and stayed there in an attack ready position. Blob slowed, realizing that they were at the final confrontation. It was no-man's-land, and anyone could be called out.

Jean and Wanda concentrated on one another. Rogue, using Kitty's powers, began harassing both Avalanche and Quicksilver. She would fight them hand to hand, and any time they tried to counter she would hop away or phase. Cyclops was doing his best to avoid Blob's blows while trying to get an edge.

About five minutes into the fight it was clear that Rogue's extra abilities were fading. Jean had been overpowered by Wanda, and Pietro had fallen to Rogue, but as the two team leaders stood back to back, they were clearly at a disadvantage.

"Well, looks like we've got you," Blob said proudly. Rogue and Cyclops looked grim. Blue energy collected around Wanda's hands, and just as she was about to throw it Xavier's voice boomed overhead.

"The X-Men win!"

"What?!" exclaimed Lance. "How the fuck did they _win_?" He threw his arms out towards Scott and Rogue.

Rogue grinned. "Y'all fahgot- Nightcrawler was never tagged out."

Lance's jaw dropped. Nightcrawler had vanished at the beginning of the fight, and he hadn't given him a second thought.

"Rogue and I decided on that backup plan very early in the game." Cyclops said, relaxing. "If we ever got all of your team involved in a fight and Nightcrawler was still in the game, we would have him teleport, grab your flag, then run back to our side as fast as he could manage."

Blob looked like he had just been blind sided by an atom bomb. Wanda opened her mouth but no words came out. Nightcrawler teleported next to his teammates and gave them both high fives.

"All right!" Nightcrawler smiled. The simulated environment disappeared. Nightcrawler was assaulted by the rest of his team with congratulations. Kitty cut through them all and fumed at Rogue.

"I can't believe you! I absolutely can't believe you! You like, totally made me think that you were hurt! You, like, _betrayed _me!"

Rogue folded her arms. "Ah wouldn't call it _betraya_l. . ." She said.

"Then what would you call it?" Kitty shouted.

"'Sides good strategy and usin' what you know about your opponent t' ovahcome them?" Rogue teased. "_Payback._"

Kitty sputtered something. Rogue smiled.

"Cyclops, Rogue, I must say I am impressed," Magneto clapped as he, Xavier and Logan entered the Danger Room. "When Blob had the flag I thought it was all over for you. Bravo. I believe we've all learned something today.

"Yeah," Kitty grumbled. "Southerners play dirty."

"Hell yeah!" Remy whooped. There was scattered laughter. Though the Brotherhood looked somewhat frustrated about the victory that had been snatched away from them, they looked slightly more comfortable around the X-Men and vice versa. Cyclops was thanking Blob for lunch earlier, Pietro was (reluctantly) admitting to Kurt that it was a clever plan, Lance was trying to get Kitty to stop pouting, Toad was poking at Colossus' armor, and Wanda looked slightly more at ease. Pyro stormed out of the Danger Room. He was still furious that he hadn't even had the chance to use his powers.

"You know what," Logan grunted. "This may have been a pretty good idea after all."

"I'm glad you're finally beginning to see the light," Magneto said. "Let's leave and see how long it takes them to notice."

Xavier chuckled. "I think we should."

As the two old friends and Logan left the room, the chatter still continued.

-------------------------

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

"Rogue? Is that your alarm?"

_Beep beep! Beep beep! Beep beep!_

"Rogue turn that thing off, willya?"

_Beep beep beep beep beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!_

ROGUE!"

"Aw, fuck it!" The goth rolled over and swatted at her clock, knocking it to the floor. Swearing she got up and looked at the time. "Nine? Why th' _hell_ is mah alarm set for nine?" She shot an evil look towards Kitty, suspecting this was revenge for making her look like and idiot the night before, but then she realized Kitty had been woken up by it first. There was a knock at the door.

Rogue got up, strode over to the door and threw it open. Beast stood there, blinking. "Sorry. I was just going to see if you were ready early to go to the store, since I heard you up."

"Store? Store!" Rogue said, smacking her forehead. "Oh, geez, Ah'm not ready at all!"

"That's okay!" Beast said. He tapped his watch. "We're not leaving until ten anyway. But since the boys were all ready up I thought you might be."

"Boys? Who else is coming 'sides Remy?"

"Kurt and Fred."

_Fred?_ Rogue thought, _Who's Fred-?_. "Oh! Blob. Do we really want him to come?"

"If we're going to have to shop for him, I suspect I'll just let him pick out what he needs to survive, then buy the usual supplies for the mansion. Unfortunately, this will probably add hours to our trip."

Rogue sighed. "That's why ya wanna leave early. All right, give me fifteen minutes."

------------

Blob stared in awe at the food section in Costco. His jaw looked like it had come undone. "You say they sell stuff here _in bulk_? As in portions that might actually _satisfy_ me?"

Beast nodded. "Yep."

Blob wiped away a tear from his eye. "I'm in love!"

"Oh gawd," Rogue said, making a retching noise. Remy barely kept a straight face. Blob had a cart all for himself, while Kurt steered the cart for the mansion food. Beast checked his watch.

"Why don't we give it an hour before we meet again here?" Beast said. Blob nodded and took off, the fastest any of the others had ever seen him move. "Ah, food. It's great motivation."

"I can see dhat," Kurt said.

Remy couldn't control himself any longer. He burst out into a peal of laughter, and Rogue had to keep him from falling over.

Beast started walking towards the meat section, aiming to get burgers and hot dogs. Kurt pushed the cart after him. Remy and Rogue walked off to get other party supplies, including chips and soda. Beast began looking through the meats carefully. The people around him slowly dissipated as they saw the big, blue and furry hands poking out of his jacket. He picked up and examined a few selections of meat. Soon there were a couple of steaks, a ton of burgers (veggie, beef _and_ chicken) and a few dozen hot dogs in the cart.

"You think that will be enough?" Beast asked his companion.

Kurt looked at the mound of assorted meats. "Yah. It's enough to feed an army."

"Good. That's what I'm going for." Beast walked over to another section to pick out a variety of cheddar and American cheeses.

Kurt sighed. He had been roped into this because he was the best at unpacking a van full of food. Teleportation came in very handy when the kitchen was so deep inside the mansion's bowels. He had wanted to go out, and maybe sneak into Amanda's house to see what was going on, but ever since he had unloaded the car once for Beast, he had been Beast's fist choice for a grocery shopping companion.

Kurt was slumping over the cart handles as Beast walked towards him with a pile of cheeses. He placed them in the cart and looked at Kurt's unhappy expression.

"Why so blue my young friend?" Beast inquired.

"Dhe general teenage problems," Kurt sighed. "You'd think dhat being a mutant would be problem enough and fate would cut you a break once and a while."

"Unfortunately that is rarely true," Beast said, ruffling Kurt's hair. "So what is it? Problems with Amanda?"

Kurt blinked. "How did you know?"

"Well, to start with, girlfriends or boyfriends tend to be what's bothering a teenager. Secondly, she's trying desperately to get me to make you turn around," Beast pointed over Kurt's shoulder. Kurt's head whipped around. Amanda was standing there, gesturing from Kurt to come over. Beast took the cart and winked at Kurt. "Go. I can take care of the cart for a minute."

Kurt grinned, "Dhanks Herr McCoy." Making sure that no one was watching, Kurt teleported over to Amanda.

Amanda threw her arms around Kurt and hugged him. "Kurt! I'm so sorry I haven't called, but I've been grounded so deeply-"

"I've heard," Kurt said sadly. "I'm sorry, it's all my fault."

"No it's not," Amanda sighed. "I told them."

"You- you _told_ dhem?" Kurt said, thunderstruck. "Dhey forbid you to date me! How could you think dhat telling dhem was a good idea?!"

Amanda snapped, "I didn't want to lie to them anymore!" Then she softened. "I thought that they'd take it better than they did. I was wrong. Luckily my honesty only got me grounded for, oh, a month and a half instead of the rest of my life. Plus I'm not supposed to see you ever again."

"Vonderful," Kurt moaned, putting his head in his hands. Then he stiffened. "Vait, if you're not allowed to go out, dhen- are dhey here?"

"Yeah," Amanda nodded. "They won't know we talked if they don't see Mr. McCoy."

Kurt went white. "But Rogue and Remy are here too!"

Her face drained slightly of color. "Oh," she glanced over her shoulder. "Well, it's a big store. They might not run into them."

"Where are they now?" Kurt asked.

"Right _here_," Amanda's father said, with no little amount of fury in his tone. Kurt backed off. He looked down at his daughter. "We saw some of _those_ _people_ here and came looking for you Amanda."

"Is that so?" Amanda squeaked.

Her mother's lips were pressed into a fine line. "We don't care about your kind sharing our schools," she said to Kurt, "but I will not have my daughter dating some sort of- of-"

"Hero?" volunteered Beast as he pushed the cart over. Rogue and Remy were trailing behind him.

Mr. Stefon looked absolutely shocked at Beast's appearance under his fedora. "What are you, his father?" He gestured at Kurt.

"I'm his teacher," Beast said. "Dr. Henry McCoy, if you must know."

"The one that went on that rampage through town!" gasped Mrs. Stefon.

"He was the best teacher at Bayville!" Amanda retorted.

"Keep you comments to yourself," her father snapped.

"Dere's a closed mind," Remy said loudly to Rogue.

"Do you have a problem with me young man?" Mr. Stefon growled.

"Me? _Non_," Remy said, looking surprised. "I believe it's _you_ who have de problem wit' me an' my good friend Kurt."

"Kurt is a good kid," Beast informed Amanda's parents. "He was out there fighting Apocalypse-"

"Another one of _you people_," Mr. Stefon yelled.

"- while other people were ready and waiting to skin him alive when he got back, just because he's different," Hank concluded.

"Different? Is _that_ what you call it?" Amanda's father snarled. "Listen, I don't want any of your _differences_. You people may have 'saved the world', which I doubt, but it was one of you who caused the problem. If you're a teacher, then teach that _student_ of yours that he should respect our wishes and stay the hell away from our daughter!" Mrs. Stefon grabbed Amanda's arm and pulled her away from the mansion residents.

"Kurt, I'll-" Amanda started, but a rough jerk from her mother cut her off.

"You'll stay away from him and his friends. They're nothing but trouble." She looked at Remy's eyes and shivered. Remy winked at her, eliciting a scandalous gasp from Mrs. Stefon.

Beast looked Amanda's parent's grimly. "Come Kurt, we'll find Fred and leave. No sense in staying where we're not wanted." He looked at Amanda's family and shook his head. "I would think that the history of 'your people'," he made the quotation marks in the air, "would make you look at prejudice in a negative light. Apparently not. I used to teach Shakespeare before I taught chemistry. I believe the phrase that best fits this situation comes from _The Merchant of Venice_." He cleared his throat. "If we prick us, do we not bleed? If you poison us, do we not die?"

With that Beast turned the cart around, and began to walk away. Rogue put an arm around Kurt and made him turn away from Amanda, who looked devastated by her parent's actions. Remy bowed to Amanda's family, then joined the others.

"Jews are human!" Mr. Stefon shrieked at their backs. "You aren't!"

Amanda wrenched away from her mother. "You're a total _asshole_!" She screamed at her father. Then she ran out of Costco. Kurt wanted to go after her, but Rogue's all ready vice-like grip on him tightened further as a warning.  
"Well," Beast said quietly, "I'm glad we avoided any further unpleasantness."

"Yes, we did just vonderfully," Kurt sounded depressed.

"We're done getting stuff here anyway," Beast tired to lighten the mood. "I think Fred has had more than enough time to stock up for at least a year."

Right on cue Blob came striding into view. "I got some extra stuff that I know the Brotherhood likes. I hope you don't mind," he grinned. "I love this place." Then he saw Kurt. "Did I miss something?"

"The usual bigotry," Remy offered. "Nothing unusual."

"Oh. If it make you feel better, even if people don't think I'm a mutant they usually make fun of me because of my weight." He gestured at himself. "Can you believe it? I mean, really, I'm only just pleasantly plump."

Kurt looked skeptical about that. "Yeah, well, it doesn't help if your girlfriend's parent dhink you're dhe worst thing for her."

"I wouldn't know about that," Blob said as they began to wheel up to the checkout. "I've never had a girlfriend. I dunno why. I'm pretty damn good looking, don't you think?" He leaned towards Rogue.

Rogue said the first thing that came to mind that wasn't totally derogatory, "You need more hair."

"Really?" Blob stroked his chin. "Maybe I'll grow a goatee. Yeah! That'll really catch the ladies' eyes!"

When they got up to the counter the cashier looked over the mound of food and her eyes nearly fell out of her forehead. If she hadn't been overworked before, after the half and hour it took her to ring everything up she was. Though it might have been shorter if she hadn't stopped mid-ringing several times to gape at Beast. It took them another twenty minutes to pack all of the food and themselves into the car. The drive back to the mansion was fairly short, and so was unpacking, seeing as Beast promised extra credit to the younger students in they helped. Kurt, being in a funk, was almost no help at all.

"Why don't you go relax for a bit?" Beast suggested, patting Kurt on the back.

Kurt sighed. "Okay," he said, teleporting off to the Rec. Room. At first glance it appeared empty, but then Kurt noticed a figure wearing red curled up in one of the chairs.

Kurt walked over, wondering why there was only one person sitting there. Then he realized it was Wanda, and she had fallen asleep. Everyone else must have avoided the room so they didn't wake her up and face her wrath. Kurt noticed a book on the floor, lying under her limp hand. Kurt picked it up and placed it on the end table besides her. The soft thud made Wanda's eyes spring open.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded fiercely.

"I'm just looking for a quiet place to brood," he said truthfully and sat down on the couch. Wanda couldn't quite bring herself to believe him at first, but realized her was serious fairly quickly.

"What's your problem?"

"I believe dhat I don't have to tell you anything," Kurt said stretching out.

Wanda snorted. "What is that, a late comeback?"

"No, it's just not a pleasant story. I vould sound like I vas complaining," Kurt sighed. "Unless, you vant to share problems."

Wanda frowned. She picked up her book and began to walk out.

"You look really tired," Kurt commented.

She stopped. "I am really tired," she admitted. "The nightmares keep me up."

"Dhat bad, huh?"

"Yeah," she sighed. Wanda sat down on the other end of the couch. "They're recurring, but they scare me as much the five hundredth time as they did the first time."

"Well, it's not nightmares that I'm worried about. It's people. People who think with their prejudices," He turned his holo-watch off, revealing his blue self. "At least you look normal. People don't immediately run screaming from you."

"No, they wait to get to know me first, then they stay away," Wanda said. "Even Pietro keeps his distance."

"I dhink you're not giving us a chance," Kurt sat up. "Dhe X-Men aren't quite as jumpy as dhe Brotherhood. If you stop acting so aloof, I bet you'll make friends."

Wanda folded her book into her arms. She stood up. "I'll take that advice," she murmured. "Thanks. . . Kurt."

Kurt smiled. "You're welcome Wanda. See you at the barbecue tonight?"

"I think so," Wanda smiled back.

---------------------------

Jono sat patiently in his cell waiting. He was getting increasingly nervous. If he didn't do this right the first time, he'd never get a second chance. He heard footsteps and his heart leapt. They stopped and he swallowed. _C'mon. C'mon on!_

---------------------------

"Pass the ketchup?" Shouted Bobby over the sea of heads that covered the deck. Fred was helping Beast cook up the mass amount of food needed to sate the hungers of about two dozen people. Toad wrapped his tongue around the ketchup and it shot out all the way down the table. Bobby delicately pried it out of the tongue coils and wiped it off with his napkin. "Thanks," he said, sounding uncertain.

"Welcome, yo!" Toad said. He had a chip bowl all to himself, since no one wanted to be that close to him.

Tabitha, Rahne, Ray and Roberto were playing Frisbee while waiting on the second or third round of meat to cook. Logan was using his claws to tear through the largest steak that most of the mansion residents had ever seen. Remy was piling his own homemade gumbo on everyone's plates, whether they wanted it or not. Kitty was inviting everyone to try her cookies, but the only ones brave enough were Blob and Beast. Magneto and Xavier were talking with Ororo and overseeing the whole operation.

Jean had forgiven Scott for his arrogance, but only after her not only begged her, but he got Pietro to put in a good word in for him. In reality Pietro had begged Jean to forgive him so Scott would stop following him around, trying to be friendly. Now Scott was actually talking to Lance civilly, though they only addressed each other by their last names. Warren had reluctantly warmed up to Pietro. He was the only one who could understand a word the speed demon was saying, since his father always talked very fast while dealing with people during work. Colossus and Alex were getting beaten by Rogue and Illyana in a game of touch football, much to the boys' astonishment. Kurt and Wanda were discussing some book they had both red, and were in a friendly debate about which one of the characters would turn out to be evil in the next book. Blob was passing out the food, while Beast, with his usual 'Kiss the Cook' apron on flipped off the next round of burgers to him.

"This is turning out to be a most pleasant evening," Storm said, leaving her place besides the two team founders.

"Indeed," Beast agreed as he passed off the last hot dog to Blob. "I think the only one _not_ enjoying themselves is St. John."

"On the contrary-" Ororo swept her arms in the direction of Pyro. "He and Amara are actually comparing notes."

Beast raised an eyebrow. "I think we'd better keep an eye on them."

Pyro tried snaking his arm around Amara, but the younger girl touched his arm with a finger made out of lava. Pyro yelped and let go, leaping up to nurse his hand.

"I think Amara can handle the situation herself," Ororo laughed.

Beast chuckled. "So it would appear."

Ororo leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Beast's cheeks went red, visible through his fur. "Why, Ororo dear, what was that for?"

Ororo's laughter rang out like bells. "Your apron. I thought you'd rather have me kiss you than, let's say, Fred, who seems to be enamored with your cooking. He's on his tenth burger."

"I'm beginning to think we're going to need a bigger van," Beast said.

"You're probably right."

--------------------------

Jubilee came down the steps and looking into Jono's cell. She better than to open the cell, though she had been tempted. "Jono, it's me." Starsmore turned around to look at her. He staggered toward her, gasping for breath. Jubilee's eyes went wide. "Jono? What's the matter?"

Jono fell to his knees in front of the force field separating him and the outside world. Suddenly he jerked to his feet, soundlessly screaming and trying to scrape the headpiece off of him.

"Jono!" Jubilee screamed. She pounded in the pass code to open his cell and just as she rushed in her collapsed, twitching. His eyes rolled back. Jubilee grabbed the inhibitor and tried to pull it off herself but it was stuck fast. On instinct she used her power on the piece, and the circuits fried.

Jono's eyes snapped open. This was his chance. Emma Frost was tearing down the stairs, absolutely livid.

**_IF ANYONE CAN HEAR ME MY NAME IS JONOTHAN STARSMORE. I'M BEING HELD CAPTIVE BY EMMA FROST IN HER SCHOOL. SHE HAS BRAINWASHED THE OTHER STUDENTS! PLEASE HELP! _**

Emma staggered as Jono's strong psychic message hit her like a ton of bricks. Jubilee's head snapped up. "Jono!" She shouted. "Jono, try to send the message to Xavier!"

Jono nodded. **_CHARLES XAVIER! PLEASE, IF YOU CAN HEAR THIS, TRACK DOWN JUBILATION LEE! WATCH OUT FOR FROST AND HER HELLIONS!_**

"That enough out of you!" Frost screamed at him, slamming his mind psychically. Jubilee tried to jump at her, but with another mental blow she fell down. Emma quickly got her bearings, and physically threw Jono back into his cell.

"Miss. Frost! What happened?" Manuel roared, charging down. Roulette was at his heels.

"We're moving our plans up," she pulled Jubilee into a sitting position. "Get me another inhibitor," Frost barked at Roulette, and the girl disappeared upstairs. "We're going to lock Starsmore down here, and say that all of the mental abuse has killed him. She's not allowed down here any more," she shoved Jubilee at Manuel. Her eyes glittered. "I'm going to break him," she said, looking at Jono. "When this is all over I'm going to break his mind into little pieces, until he's only good as a weapon."

Roulette returned with the inhibitor, and Frost locked it onto Jonothan's head. Then she reactivated the force field.

"Pick her up," Frost said, as she began to ascend. "I want her emotions manipulated into such grief that she will have no choice but to turn it into anger. Jono's 'death' will be her motivation to destroy her former teammates."

--------------------------------

"Charles!" Magneto said, helping Xavier back into his wheelchair. Logan had abandoned his steak and sprinted over when Xavier screamed. Jean had also cried out in anguish. Scott and a few other students crowded around her. "Dear god- what happened?"

"I was wrong-" he gasped. "I was wrong."

"Wrong about what Chuck?" Logan prodded.

"The fight- the fight that was going to take place between two sets of mutants. I thought that by joining our teams together we would avoid it. It's not between the Brotherhood and the X-Men. It never was going to be," Charles choked.

Magneto looked at him, totally taken off guard. "What? We're the only large factions of mutants."

"No- no we aren't."

"Are you talkin' 'bout the Morlocks?" Logan asked. "Chuck, they're cranky, sure, but they would never-"

"No, Not the Morlocks."

"Then who Charles?" Magneto asked.

"Hellions," he gasped. "They call themselves the Hellions. Oh, Erik, we wanted to prevent a war but the war has just begun!"

_The End_

A/N: Well, some of you might sit there wondering 'what about Kurt and Amanda?' Oh, yea, you'll see Amanda again, but I'm not a Kurmanda shipper. I just can't ever be. Why? Three words: Talia Josephine Wagner. And if you don't know who she is, _fie upon you!_ For those of you who _do_ you know where I'm going with this, but it's going to be a very long, slow road. Especially after the major arc in Season 6 starts. You'll see what I mean.

Thanks to all of you for tolerating my slowness. I promise I'll try to get the last three episode out faster. I have just decided to name the next episode _Something Wicked this Way Comes_. It directly reflects all the evil things that will be going on. You'll see a lot more prejudice in the high school. You'll see what Mystique is up to. You'll see what Frost is up to. You'll try to figure out what Sinister is up to. And, of course, you'll see more of he Brotherhood and the X-Men learning to live together.

I now have a wonderful opening scene! Oh, joy! I must go off and write now!

(Yes, this is a very good sign. )


	10. Episode 10: Something Wicked

_Standard Disclaimer: _I do not own the X-Men. If I did I would not be a poor college student. I'd be a filthy rich one. This is a labor of _loooooove_. However, if anyone wants to give me the X-Men I'd be more than happy to take them.

_Something Wicked this Way Comes_

Blob was blocking the door. Kurt was trying to avoid the flailing limbs. Scott was blindly fumbling around, looking for his glasses which had been knocked clean off his face. Pietro and Lance were holding on for dear life, and Remy was standing in a corner, laughing his head off.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Toad screamed. "You can't make me get in there!"

Lance and Pietro held his arms behind him, but Toad's legs were free and so was his tongue. Kurt swore as he ducked away from another kick. Toad was in a bathing suit, and that was it. It had taken all of three seconds to get him to change into the bathing suit. Magneto had simply ordered him to do it. Toad hadn't realized why until he saw the enormous bathtub in the room he was lead into.

"I'm allergic to water! I'm allergic to soap! I'm allergic _to the idea of being washed_!" He shouted, trying to twist out of his teammates grasp.

"Ifyouwouldjustcooperateandcleanupyoumightactuallymakeanimpressiononmysister!" Pietro roared all in one breath.

"My cupcake loves me just the way I am!" Toad said defensively.

"Jesus! When's the last time you brushed your teeth?" Kurt threw his hand over his nose. He scooped up Scott's glasses and passed them over to the blind and bumbling team leader. Kurt broke out a tube of toothpaste and a brand new toothbrush. Toad squealed like a girl.

"I _ain't_ puttin' that thing in my mouth yo!"

"You don't have a choice! This isn't dhe Boarding house. You can't walk around reeking like last veeks garbage!" He passed the toothbrush and toothpaste to Pietro and took Toad's arm from him. Scott stood up.

"You start kicking again and I'm going to blow your legs off," he threatened, red glowing around his glasses.

Toad stopped kicking, his eyes wide with fear. Pietro piled a mountain of toothpaste on the toothbrush and thrust it into Toad's mouth, then started brushing. Toad thought about clamping his teeth down on the rapidly moving bush, but feared that his teeth would be filed down to nothing if he did.

"Now for the mouthwash," Pietro said. He put some in Toad's mouth, held his mouth closed and shook his head up and down rapidly. Then he let go. "Now spit."

Toad spit all of the mouthwash out onto Pietro's face. "Gah! I'm dying! My mouth's on fire! Blob! Blob, yo, help me!"

"No can do, Toad," Blob said sympathetically. "If I have to share a room with you, I want you smelling better."

Pietro thrust his head into the sink and turned on the water. "Ugh! I must have sixteen years worth of bacteria on my face! Ismyfaceokay?" He said, showing himself to Scott.

"You look red-" Scott began.

"Auuuuggh!" Pietro said. "I'm infected with something!"

"Cool it Quicksilver!" Lance snapped. "The whole world looks red to Summers! You're _fine_ man!"

Pietro took several quick breaths. "You'renotjustsayingthat?"

"No!" Lance roared. "Now hold his legs! Summers- the bath!"

Scott turned the water on and took out a bright pink bottle labeled _Johnson and Johnson's Bubble Bath Formula. _He poured some in and the bath exploded into a flurry of bubbles. Blob made sure the door behind him was locked.

When Toad finally saw the bath he screamed so loudly that everyone in the mansion heard it.

-------

"What hell was that?" Ray asked, pausing as he put cream cheese on his bagel.

"That was easily the hardest assignment I have ever given anyone," Magneto said seriously, as he plucked a banana from the fruit bowl. The two boys stared at him trying to figure out if he was being serious.

"Ah'm beginnin' t' think that Magneto's gonna be a really, really hard teacher," Sam said quietly to Ray as more screaming, shouting, and loud crashes echoed across the mansion.

Ray nodded, eying Magneto like he was a coiled cobra going to strike any minute. The master of magnetism smiled at the two boys and walked off with his banana, whistling the entire way.

--------

"I won't go in there!" Toad screamed. He had already shattered the mirror, knocked the toilet seat cover clear off, and managed to kick Kurt into the bathtub. Kurt, fur plastered to his body, and suds covering his clothes, sputtered as he pulled himself from the tub.

"Gambit! Give us a hand here!" Scott shouted.

"As you wish, o' fearless leader," Remy smiled. He pulled a card from his pocket, and it lit up instantly with power.

"Is that safe?" Blob asked.

"Course not," Remy said. "Dat's de point." With perfect accuracy Remy tossed the card. It exploded right behind Toad's ear.

Toad shrieked. He shoved off of the wall and dove away from the explosion. Pietro and Lance were dragged along with him, and all three crashed into the oversized tub. The wave washed over Scott, who was just about to hand a towel to Kurt. Both wound up soaked. Remy ducked behind Blob to avoid being splashed himself as Toad, Pietro and Lance began struggling in a life or death battle to get Toad washed.

"You can't do this to meeeeee!" Toad moaned. Lance threw himself over Toad and shoved him down under the water. Pietro grabbed a scrub brush and soaped it up. When Toad broke the surface Pietro attacked him, scrubbing his skin red. "Ahhhh! Ahhh! Stop it! Stop it!"

"Ifyouwouldjustcooperate we wouldn't have to resorttothesemeasures!" Pietro kept on scrubbing. He and Lance didn't bother getting out of the tub, because the longer Toad stayed in the tub, the more water wound up on the outside of the tub. Kurt and Scott were just as wet as they were, and all the boys were covered in bubbles. The exception was Remy, who was hiding within his trench coat.

"You know de next big project is gonna be cleanin' up de tub after he's come out," the Cajun pointed out as he popped his head out of the folds of his coat. "Dere had to be at least two inches of grim in his hair alone. You see how bizarre his skin color is?" Scott rolled his eyes.

"Ugh, just look at me!" Kurt said, holding out his arms. He was dripping everywhere. "I'm going to be frizzing out for dhe rest of dhe day!" He pushed the wet hair out of his eyes. "My tail feels like it's made of lead."

Scott ducked as a bottle of shampoo that Pietro was trying to open went flying as Toad knocked it out of his hands. Remy reflexively caught it and tossed it back to the speed demon. Pietro wasn't quite ready for it and it whacked him in the head. "Watchit gumbo!" He snapped.

"You're welcome," Remy said back. He rolled his eyes.

Pietro attacked Toad's hair with a vengeance, possibly because his own was now droopy and limp instead of windswept as usual. "Hey," Pietro barked at the other occupants of the room "Someone wanna give me a _hand _here? He slippery!"

Blob stepped away from the door and left Remy to guard it. He placed his massive hand on Toad's head and pushed the other boy under the water to rinse him off. Toad gurgled and sputtered when he came up. "That is unfair, yo!" he shouted.

"Okay guys," Lance said as he waved from inside the tub. "Someone pass me the scrub brush!"

The words 'scrub brush' sent the room plunging into total chaos. Toad shrieked in horror, leapt out of the tub, bounced off of the wall, off of Blob, and landed on Remy. Lance lunged after him and landed on Scott, who was trying to hit Toad with a small optic blast to stun him. The blast hit the mirror, ricocheted off and caught Pietro square between the eyes. Pietro fell back into the tub yelping and sending a wave of soapy water into the air. Some suds caught Kurt in the eye and he reflexively teleported in pain, reappearing on top of Blob. Blob, reacting to what he thought was an assault by a wet blue badger or other animal bellowed and staggered into Lance and Scott.

"Summers!" Pietro yelled, pulling himself out of the tub, "Are you _trying_ to kill me?"

"Well maybe if- Blob! Get up!- Alvers hadn't- Ow! - thrown himself around like a lunatic, I might not have missed!" Scott grunted as he pulled himself out from under Blob.

"Excuse me?" Lance retorted. "Well, if you had been acting as a proper _leader_ like you're supposed to be maybe your people wouldn't have been taken out by Toad and soapy water!"

"Hey! I resent dhat!" Kurt said, pointing angrily at what he thought was Lance, but was actually a towel hanging on a hook. Blob chuckled.

Remy made some sort of groaning noise.

"If you could control your team _at all_ Toad would have all ready been washed by now!" Scott yelled at Lance.

Pietro shot out of the bath. "YouwannamakesomethingofitSummers?" He brandished the scrub brush like a cudgel.

"If you're going to threaten me, Pietro, why don't you talk so I can understand it?" Scott said, tipping his glasses just enough so that red light shimmered around the top of them.

"Hey, leave Scott alone!" Kurt said, throwing himself between the three boys. "It's not his fault!" He snarled at Scott.

Pietro and Lance burst out laughing. Kurt rubbed his eyes and squinted. "Ach, sorry mein frieund," he said sheepishly to Scott.

"It's okay Kurt," he said quietly, glaring at Lance and Pietro.

Remy rolled over and began grumbling something that the other boys couldn't hear. He looked like he was aching all over. Blob picked him up by his jacket and set him on his feet. "T'anks," he grunted. He glanced over at the other boys and shouted, "Hey! We got a problem! Monsuier Toad flew the coop!"

Lance, Pietro, Kurt and Scott all stopped to stare at him. "What?" Lance said.

"While you were arguin', Toad opened de door," Remy gestured at the open portal, "an' left! He's drippin' all over de place!"

The boys stayed still for a few moments, then Pietro zipped to the door. Scott and Lance thundered up behind him, and Kurt teleported into the hall directly. Blob peered over all their heads. Remy observed the disaster area that had once been called a bathroom and winced. He was going to try and skip out on the cleanup process. It was going to be a long one.

"Follow the puddles!" Scott ordered.

"Easier said than done," Pietro said, pointing at a wet spot on the wall. "He's bouncing all over the place."

"Split up then!" Scott said. "Alvers, Kurt, you're with me. Blob, Pietro, Remy, you're going that way!"

Remy raised an eyebrow. "You've gotta be kiddin' me!" He groaned.

"No, I'm not." Scott's face was etched with determination. "We're finishing that bath one way or another."

"This is not supposed to be about your bruised pride Summers!" Lance snorted.

"Are you kidding me?" Pietro snapped. "I want to wrapmyhands around that little twit's neck too! We're gonna find him, andthenwe'regonna give him a scrubbing the likes of which the world has never seen!"

Remy looked back and forth between Scott and Pietro. "Damn! You're both crazy!" He shook his head and started jogging in the direction Scott had indicated earlier. Blob followed. Scott took off running down the other way, watching for wet spots. Lance groaned and went after him, as Kurt followed on all fours. Pietro shot down the hallway past Remy and Blob- but slipped on a puddle of water, neatly twisted his ankle, and was forced to hobble the rest of the way, cursing.

--------

Wanda mumbled something incoherently in her sleep. She'd been up most of the night, tossing and turning. The nightmares still plagued her. She had a feeling that she wasn't the only one they were bothering either. Jean kept on complaining about restless nights, for which she had no explanation. Rogue frequently had her share of other people's nightmares, and several times the two girls had crossed paths in the kitchen in the wee hours of the morning. Rogue, it appeared, was used to her odd sleeping pattern, and wasn't as disturbed by her nightmares anymore. Wanda was still waking up with screams on her lips.

She did so just then, sitting up abruptly with a gasp. Her hand flew to her arm. Panting she tried to calm herself enough to remove it. In the few seconds before she had woken up she had dreamt that a man with an evil grin had been pushing a needle into her vein. Then her world exploded in fire. She glanced around her room. Her powers had tossed things around while she had been sleeping again, but there wasn't too much damage this time. Wanda suspected it was because she was using her powers while she was asleep so much- she was simply burned out.

She put her head in her hands. For a moment she wondered if these dreams were some sort of cruel trick by Jean Grey or another student, but she remembered that the nightmares had started before the move to the mansion. No luck finding the source of the bad dreams that way.

Maybe it had been a movie she had seen. It had to be something bizarre. Maybe _Gothicka_? It had an asylum in it, and all sorts of other strange things. No. The only thing that had really disturbed her about that movie was how much Storm looked like Hallie Berry. It was really quite eerie.

If not a movie, or induced by someone else mind, then what was going on? Wanda propped herself up with her arms and squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them she shrieked.

Wanda leapt out of her bed staring at her arm with an expression of mute horror. Trembling she touched the scar on her arm and her blood went cold. It was in exactly the spot she had felt the needle penetrated her arm in her dream this past night and many nights before. Why hadn't she noticed it before?

She had to talk to her father.

Wanda grabbed a red tee shirt and black jeans and rushed into the bathroom. She splashed some water on her face, and looked up at herself into the mirror. What she saw caused her to freeze. She took a step back.

She was looking at herself, but she had much longer hair, a much wilder look in her eyes, and she was bound tightly in a white straight jacket. Wanda's heart skipped a beat. She shut her eyes and shook her head. Another glance in the mirror only revealed her own scared expression.

"I'm still half asleep," she said to herself. "That's why I'm seeing these things." Wanda shivered. She decided that taking a shower was probably a good idea. A quick, five minute shower would wake her right up. Especially if she used cold water. Stripping off her pajamas Wanda turned on the cold water and stepped into the shower. She washed up very briefly, toweled most of her body off and slipped into her clothes. Wanda stepped out into the hallway, hair still dripping onto the floor, and began to walk back to her room. About halfway there, she dropped her pajama top. Grumbling, Wanda bent over to get it, throwing her towel over her shoulder so she had a hand free.

As she started to straighten up there was a 'bamfing' sound from somewhere behind her. Which was closely followed by a victorious shout. "ARGH!" Wanda yelled as over a hundred pounds of blue furry mutant landed on her back.

"I've got you now Toad!" Kurt trumpeted. "Dhere is no escape from dhe amazing- Nightcrawler!" The last word was said as Kurt's body, surrounded by a bright blue light went flying down the hallway. "Ahhhhhhh!" He cried as he smashed the bust of a rather distinguished looking gentleman and crashed to the ground.

"What the fuck are you _doing_?" Wanda roared as Kurt staggered uneasily to his feet. When Kurt saw her he turned pale under his fur and took a step back.

"Wanda!" He exclaimed. "I thought- I thought you were-" Wanda's scorching gaze told him that he needed to explain faster. "We gave Toad a bath but he got avay and he was leaving a water trail, and you were hunched over, and dhere vas water and I mistook you for him."

"You mistook me- _for Toad_?"

Kurt waved his arms frantically. "I'm sorry! I know how bad dhat sounds!"

Wanda snorted. "Next time you should confirm your target!" She growled.

"I promise. Scout's honor. Cross my heart," Kurt said frantically. He took another step back. "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to-"

"Just go!" Wanda shouted irritably. She regretted it slightly when she saw the hurt look on Kurt's face, but he teleported away before she could say anything more. She gathered up her belongings and stormed back to her room. It was moments like these that made her wish Pyro hadn't been such a pervert and burned down the Boarding House. Though he had learned to keep his distance, he still winked at her or blew kisses every time they made eye contact. Wanda thought about removing his eyes to prevent that, but she was sure neither Xavier nor her father would approve.

There was one other reason Wanda tolerated Pyro. Something he had said during his brief stint at the Boarding house had struck a chord deep within her, and she couldn't explain it. "Real righteous family you've got Wanda," he had said right after Pietro had defended her against him. "Always lookin' out for your _best interests_." What he said really wasn't important. It was _how_ he had said it, with that sarcastic tone and rebellious look in his eyes. Pietro was upset by the comment, maybe even more than she was, but since then neither boy had mentioned it again.

Wanda pushed those thoughts from her mind. She needed to talk to her father about these nightmares. They were relentless, and they were beginning to disturb her even more than usual. She looked down at the scar on her arm again. Somewhere in the back of her mind she could vaguely remember having it, but she couldn't remember how she had gotten it. She left her room just as professor Xavier's voice touched everyone's mind.

_Senior X-Men and Brotherhood members, please proceed to the front lawn for your morning training session in five minutes. Younger X-Men please make your way to the danger room in the next fifteen minutes for your morning session. We'll just be doing some basic training and obstacle courses today_ _so there is no need to make up medical excuses,_ Xavier informed them.

Wanda cursed. Talking to her father was going to have to wait. She changed out of her civilian clothes, into her uniform and ran out towards the lawn.

--------------

"Leave me alone man!" Toad shrieked bouncing off the walls. "Yo, this ain't cool _at all_!"

"Got you!" Pietro yelled triumphantly as he grabbed Toad by the hair. "You are such a dead man!" Blob and Remy jogged up behind him. Blob was panting loudly and Remy looked irate.

"Did you not jus' hear de boss man?" Remy said gesturing. "We gotta go!"

Lance, Scott and Kurt appeared on the other side of Toad and Pietro. Pietro shot Remy a nasty look. "I'm not letting frog breath go without getting some revenge first!"

"Whoa, whoa!" Scott said, concerned. "Revenge? No, not good."

"What!" Pietro exclaimed. "Wejustspentallmorning chasing him aroundthehouse!" He exploded. "You're gonna lethimgo!

"We've got places we need to be-" Scott began.

"_You_ were the one who wanted to go after him Summers!" Lance retorted. He looked furious. "Are you backing out now that you've had us running around like lunatics all morning?"

"We were supposed to give him a bath and I wanted to get him back in the bath," Scott said lamely. In truth he had wanted to throw Toad into the Danger Room for a few minutes on level eight and see how he handled it. Still, that wasn't the way the professor would want him to handle things, and he knew it too. "Right now we gotta head outside, so let's just make up for the time we've lost by hustling back to our rooms and changing."

"Hellno!" Pietro growled. "I'm taking the suffering I had to go through this morning outta his hide!" He swung his arm back, and Kurt grabbed it.

"Dhat is no vay to treat a teammate!" Kurt said.

Pietro jerked his arm back, effectively elbowing Kurt in the chest. Kurt doubled over in pain. Pietro started striking Toad with rapid punches, but was interrupted after only three or four when something bright passed by his face. He paused and turned to look just in time to identify the object as the duce of clubs before it exploded and sent him reeling backwards.

"Dat's fo' bustin' on Nightcrawler!" Remy snapped, helping the fuzzy elf to his feet.

Blob towered over Remy menacingly. "Hey! Back off and leave Pietro alone, otherwise you'll know what it feels like to be a pancake."

Remy's eyes sparkled in defiance. "Is dat a threat?

"No- it's a _promise!_" Blob roared, lunging at him. Kurt, who had managed to recover his wits, teleported himself and Remy out of the way. Blob, carried by his momentum, went tumbling towards Scott, who opened fire with his optic blasts to stabilize the overgrown young man. "Ow!" Blob said as he landed on the floor with a cracking of wood.

"What'd you do that for Summers?" Lance said, the ground beginning to tremble.

Scott glared at Lance. "I was trying to keep the one man wrecking crew from bringing down the whole house."

"You want a wrecking crew?" Lance said. "I can give you a wrecking crew!"

The house began to tremble, and Scott grabbed onto the nearest railing. "Cut it out Alvers!" He shouted. He didn't dare use his optic blasts again. He'd probably punch a hole in the wall. Another exploding card startled him enough to make him stop.

"All right, that's it!" Lance snarled. "I've had it up to here with you, Gambit. You were a snide little ass when you were working for Magneto and I see that you haven't changed much."

"Neither have you _mon ami_. You were a pig back den, an' you're a pig now," Gambit retorted. "What Kitty sees in you, I can't figure out. De girl must be totally blind."

With a roar of rage, Lance threw a punch at Remy. Remy was too surprised at his reaction to move and got a fist in the face. Lance threw himself at the now staggering Cajun in order to hit him again but Kurt threw himself on top of Lance and teleported him a few feet away. Lance stumbled and nearly vomited, sick from the feeling of passing through another dimension so quickly. Pietro jumped in on the fight, circling around Kurt so fast that he was lifted off his feet and into the air.

"Hey! Cut it out guys!" Scott yelled, but soon found himself scraping slime off of his face as Toad decided to join in the fight.

"That's fo' the bubbles, yo!" He said defiantly.

The fighting continued until Blob started to stand up. There was a disturbing creaking noise when he did. No one noticed over the yelling except for Blob, and he was very, very worried. "Guys? Guys!" He called out, but no one was listening. "I think we have a bigger problem here!" He shouted, but still no response. "HEY YOU ALL! LISTEN UP!" He bellowed. That caught the attention of the whole crowd of boys. However, just as Blob opened his mouth to say more there was a sickening crack and the floor gave way underneath them.

------------

"Where are they?" Rogue asked as she glanced around. The boys on either team were no where to be seen, the exceptions being Colossus and Pyro.

Jean frowned as she too looked for them. "I don't know. . ." She admitted. "They couldn't have missed the professor's message. . ."

"Well, like, wherever they are they'd better get here fast," Kitty whispered. "Logan looks like he's going to have kittens!"

Wanda, who had arrived only moments before looked at the feral Canadian and admitted that she had to agree with Kitty. The face Logan was making was somewhere in between total fury and emotional constipation. He looked like he wanted to start roaring at the top of his lungs and slashing anything that came near, but was holding it back.

"I saw Kurt just little while 'go. He said that deh boys hed been trying to give Toad a bath," Colossus informed the others.

Rogue raised a skeptical eyebrow. "A bath? Ah think that in all the time Ah was at th' boardin' house Ah only saw him showah once. An' on that occasion he didn't use soap. That boy constantly smells like he's been dumpster divin'."

"He says it attracts flies for lunch," Wanda added distastefully. "Honestly, it's hard to imagine anyone living like that.

"Ah hear that," Rogue nodded in agreement. Kitty, Jean and Peter echoed her response.

"So Rogue, it's your first Logan-Session since you've been out of the infirmary," Jean pointed out, much to Rogue's annoyance. "You feeling up to it?"

Pretending that she wasn't bothered by what she viewed as the other girl's usual condescending manner, Rogue said, "'Course Ah am. Ah'll have you note that Ah c'n hold mah own in a fight, even before Ah manage to capture another mutant powah."

"I wasn't talking about your combat performance," Jean said apologetically. "I was talking about your physical needs. Do you think you've had enough time to recover?"

Rogue rolled her eyes. "Ah'm _fine_ Jean. Stop bein' such a mother hen."

The southern girl moved away from the redhead with a huff. Jean was going to say more, another apology perhaps, but gave up. There was no point in talking to Rogue when she was in one of her moods. Jean was just concerned about Rogue. She had very nearly been the first causality of the X-Men, a fact that shook most of the students at Xavier's. Jean herself had taken a very long look at what life with the X-Men would mean. Certainly constant battles and injuries figured into that life a lot, but Jean had hardly ever stopped to think of Death before. Any one of these people, her friends, could die at any time. She could die herself. Seeing the way Rogue's illness had effected people, including herself, Jean wasn't quite sure which one she really feared more.

"That's _it!_" Logan grumbled loudly, startling Jean out of her train of thought. "I'm gonna go in there and _drag_ them out one by one if I have to!" He turned to the all ready assembled members of the team. "Rogue," he grunted surprising the goth, "you're a team leader. I'm leaving you in charge until I get back. Have everyone run the basic obstacle course at a setting of three as a warm up. Once you're all done with that, stretch out for the real workout."

"Yes sir," Rogue said, feeling very odd in this position of power. She watched him retreat back to the mansion, eyes gleaming and turned back to the other mutants assembled on the lawn. "You heard him."

Kitty moaned. "Aw, man! A Logan level three obstacle course is brutal!"

Rogue scoffed. "All you evah do is phase through all th' dangerous stuff," she pointed out.

"That's not the point!" Kitty protested. "It's the principal of the thing that matters."

Rogue rolled her eyes as the pressed a button hidden on a statue. A computer panel slid out and Rogue tapped in the needed data. "Well, since you're not so keen on them, maybe you'd better go first and get it over with."

"What!"

Colossus nodded. "Rogue's hez a point Kitty. Deh sooner you go, deh sooner it's over."

"Fine," Kitty huffed. "Like, be that way." She shuffled off, running down the stone path that dictated the parameters of the course. Rogue shielded her eyes from the sun and tried to see as much of what was happening as possible.

"Logan went all out with this one," Rogue commented as she watched her roommate running along. "There's some sort of aerial drone that's giving Kitty a whole world o' trouble."

Wanda, who had let her mind wander back to the events from earlier was startled when Jean put a hand on her shoulder. Jean's brow was furrowed in concern. "Are you all right Wanda? You looked like you had left us for a moment there."

"Just thinking," Wanda said shortly.

"About-?" Jean inquired.

"Why me o' course," Pyro said, striding over. He looked, and acted, as cocky as he always did. "Isn't that right Sheila?"

"Since you don't seem to understand 'go away' I think I'll try 'stuff it up your ass Pyro', this time," Wanda growled.

"Still playing hard to get? Really, luv, I thought we had gotten past that."

"Cut it out St. John," Jean warned the boy. "Leave her alone or I personally guarantee you'll have nightmares for the rest of your godforsaken life."

Pyro smirked, "Jealous are we?"

Jean ignored him and Wanda followed her example.

Colossus moved towards Pyro. "I think that you should, how you say, _cut the crap_ St. John," Peter advised him, slightly stretching his muscles.

Remembering the fact that colossus was twice as broad and at lest a head taller than he was he muttered "It was just a joke."

As Kitty returned, huffing and puffing from the running she had done, Rogue sent Pyro off to run the course next. Jean glanced at the house. "Logan's taking a long time," she commented.

Rogue shrugged. "If th' boys c'n walk by the time Logan's done with them Ah'll be very surprised. Still," she said, rubbing the back of her neck, "it's not like Scott an' Kurt t' be late."

"What about Remy?" Kitty asked now that she had her breath back.

"Remy takes his sweet time, all the time. He don't care if he's on time or not."

The girls and Colossus watched as Pyro battled frantically with the aerial drone that had given Kitty so much trouble. Jean gestured at the scene and said, "No one would risk being this late to a Logan session for fear that they get a punishment worse than a normal session."

All of them, even Wanda, winced sympathetically when the drone decided shooting at Pyro wasn't going to stop the young man and dive-bombed him, conking him hard on the head. Pyro sat down abruptly, clutching his forehead with one hand and shooting fire at the drone with the other one. In the end though his image was more bruised than his body.

------------

"I see," Professor Xavier said into the phone. "No, no I assure you I'm not trying to convince you to do anything. Yes, I understand that the location is more convenient. Of course. Of course. I was just wondering if I could have an address or a phone number or- what? I would never- I understand. Thank you for time Mrs. Lee."

He sighed and hung up. Ororo and Beast were watching him. "No luck Charles?" Ororo said sympathetically.

The professor wound his fingers together. "The headmistress of the academy, a Ms. Emma Frost by name, keeps the location of her school quite well protected 'for the safety of her unique charges,' something the Lees suggested I might find prudent."

"Ouch," Beast whistled.

"They further went onto suggest that I was trying to convince them to re-enroll Jubilee in the institute because I didn't want any competition, and that I was trying to 'undermine their authority' by talking to Jubilee about it- which was the only reason I was looking for an address of a phone number, apparently."

"So much for that idea," Beast sighed. "So all we know is that there is an academy somewhere out in California which is run by a Ms. Frost and that her student are potentially called Hellions. Most of which, might I add, was contributed by an anonymous psychic source calling himself Jonothan Starsmore."

Ororo unfolded a paper she had printed off of the computer. "That much," she said, "may be true."

Beast pulled out his glasses, and adjusted them so that they sat on his nose. "You must be joking. A tabloid website?" He tapped the URL on the top of the page. "Ororo how could this possibly be accurate-?" He paused as he read the headline. "Boy spontaneously combusts in school, blows chest off, and survives to tell the tale- in people's heads?" He looked up at Storm and the professor. "This is-"

"Authentic," Xavier finished. "The date on that article corresponds to the day and time Cerebro picked up a huge surge of mutant energy in London."

"That would also explain the British accent the Professor heard," Ororo said quietly. "But that leaves us with a dead end."

"How do we find the Hellions without anything to go on?" Beast said, confounded. Then he paused and looked up at Xavier. "Why don't we ask Sam?"

"Sam?" Xavier made a face. "Why Sam?"

"Wasn't his sister offered a place at this Academy?"

Xavier put two fingers to his temples. "Sam is in the Danger Room with the other New Mutants. After the class is over we'll speak to him."

"Maybe we aren't in such a bad position after all," Beast said.

The doors to Xavier's office burst open and Logan came in growling. "Where's Summers and the other boys?"

Xavier raised an eyebrow. "They're not at class?"

"Not as of three minutes ago," Logan grunted. "And let me tell you, I am _not_ gonna tolerate this kinda crap! If the Brotherhood boys are going to be a bad influence-"

"Logan!" Ororo said indignantly. "I'm sure this had nothing to do with the Brotherhood boys."

Logan's claws popped out. "I tell you Chuck, this was a bad idea. We're sleepin' on a bed of vipers letting Magneto an' his hooligans stay in here."

"I'm always going to give people the benefit of the doubt Logan," Xavier said evenly.

Logan frowned. "One day Chuck, that's gonna get you killed." He folded his arms. "Can you round up the stragglers?"

"Yes, of course," the professor said. He touched his temples. "They're- they're moving between the first floor and the subbasement."

Beast blinked. Logan raised an eyebrow. "Say again?"

--------------------

"All right Amara," Magneto said, the golden ball hovering above his hand. "Let's see if you can beat Iceman's record." The ball hovered into the air. "On my signal, try to catch the ball."

"Why do I suddenly feel like Harry Potter?" Amara mumbled.

"Good luck beating my score," Bobby teased. "Ten seconds is pretty good, don't you think?" He gave her an icy thumbs up and grinned. He had frozen the ball almost before Magneto had gotten it into the air.

"Keep bragging Bobby," Amara countered. "It'll make it all that much sweeter when I trounce you."  
"You wish, hott stuff," Bobby said with a wink.

Roberto and Sam exchanged eye rolls.

"You'd better beat him Amara!" Jamie shouted, "If you don't we'll never hear the end of it!" The three other Jamies next to him nodded. Even with twenty of him running around it had taken him a full five minutes to catch the ball.

"Yeah, here's hoping" Amara said, rubbing her hands together.

"Start on my mark," Magneto said. "One, two, three- GO!" The ball shot forward, and Amara burst into flames.

_Here goes nothing-_ she thought and lunged after it.

----------------

"You ready fah this Wanda?" Rogue asked as she reset the course. Rogue knew full well that Wanda had little control over her powers. She had, after all, possessed them Though much of what had happened while she was under Apocalypse's influence was a painfully blurred streak on her memory, there were a few things she remembered. "It's a tough course t' start out on first thing."

"I'm ready," Wanda said, her eyes steely. Inside she felt less than sure. She was still disturbed by the events of the morning, but tried not to think about it. All she _really_ wanted to do was go talk to her father.

Kitty, who was snickering quietly at the dejected Pyro, noticed Jean rubbing her temple. "You all right?" She asked.

"Yeah," Jean said, "funny, but I feel like there's some sort of- psychic disturbance."

"You don't think it's whomever contacted you and the professor, do you?"

"No," Jean said firmly. "This is different." There was a feather-like touch at her mind, and Jean stiffened. She glanced at Wanda. "I think we have a big problem."

"Huh?" Kitty asked, looking at Wanda too. "What?"

"Not sure," Jean said. "Just- stay back."

"O- okay," Kitty agreed, stepping away. Jean stepped forward to grab Wanda's arm. Before she could she was distracted by a frantic mental yelp from Scott. The redhead tried to figure out what was going on and catch a hold of Wanda at the same time, but it proved fruitless.

"Go!" Rogue said, and Wanda darted along the course.

----------------------

"Oops," Emma Frost smirked as she sensed Jean missing Wanda, "Too late."

She focused her concentration on Wanda, whom she had been gathering information on for some time. According to what she had extracted from the mind of Jubilee, Wanda was an immensely powerful mutant with a hairpin trigger. That trigger had been effectively stuck thanks to some mind manipulation ordered by her father some time ago. When she had begun to watch the X-Men the white Queen paid particular attention to Wanda's mind. A while ago, something began to chip away at the mental image of a perfect life that had kept Wanda stable for so long. Emma simply helped it along. A little mental nudge here, a nightmare or two and Wanda was on edge.

Now all she had to do was pick her moment for her first strike against the X-Men. . .

---------------------

Amara called lava from the ground and threw it at the golden ball that was flying determinedly away from her. She was intending to wrap the ball in lava and let it cool immediately, effectively doing the same thing with fire that Bobby had done with ice. Amara was so intent on her goal she didn't notice Iceman's expression of worry turn into one of shock, nor notice her classmates gasp and shout, or smell the brimstone and hear the loud 'BAMF!' All she knew that was that just a millisecond before she had successfully destroyed Bobby's bragging rights she was being smothered by the entire male population of the upper class, sans Pyro. Luckily for her, Blob was largely off to one side, not on top of her, and luckily for the other boys, Blob was on the bottom of the pile.

"Oh man dhat hurt," Kurt groaned. He looked up to see Magneto standing over him with a very amused expression.

"I see you've had a bit of trouble with my assignment," he managed to say with a straight face.

There was a mutter from one or two of the boys as they began to extract themselves from the pile. Scott helped Amara to her feet, and when she looked up she saw that the golden ball was hovering over Magneto's shoulder.

"Damnit!" She muttered. "I was so close. . ."

At that moment the rest of the staff came out of the elevator and entered the Danger room. "Class started five minutes ago!" Logan barked immediately upon spotting the boys. "I want you outside- _now!_" He said.

"Logan-" Storm began in a warning tone.

"What happened?" The Professor asked.

Scott frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "We had some different opinions on the best way to scrub behind Toad's ears."

"Indeed," Beast said, noticing how bruised some of the boys were. "Is that _all?_"

The X-Men boys and the Brotherhood boys glanced at one another sheepishly, trying to think of something to say.

-------------------

"Jean, what exactly is, like, _wrong_?" Kitty asked, noticing the redhead was still so distressed.

Colossus looked over at the two girls. "Is there somthink wrong?"

"I don't know," said Jean. "I don't know," she repeated getting increasingly worried.

"Is there anythink we can do?" Peter asked.

"We have to stop Wanda," Jean said. "I don't know why, but we just do-!"

"Uh oh- Wanda's in trouble," Rogue said. Jean, Peter and Kitty looked at her. The southerner was still unaware of the Wanda crisis Jean was anticipating, and Rogue's negative words made all turn.

"What? What!" Jean said frantically. Rogue looked at her confused and pointed out onto the course.

The aerial drone that had given Kitty and Pyro so much trouble had clearly sustained more damage than it had calculated it would when it dive-bombed St. John in the head. It was flying around in circles while spinning and every now and then firing off a random laser. Wanda was approaching it's path now with a breakneck speed, just trying to get through the course as quickly and painlessly as possible so she could take to her father sooner.

A laser just missed her left ear.

Wanda yelped, fired off a random blast of power, and the drone decided that if it was going to go down, she was coming with it. For a second time it dive-bombed the person in front of it. Wanda wasn't quick enough to react and she took a blow to the head that sent her reeling, then she fell down onto the grass.

"_Wanda!_" Kitty shouted, running onto the course after the brotherhood girl.

Rogue frantically shut down the obstacle program and proceeded to follow Kitty. Jean suddenly felt a surge of psychic energy, followed by what sounded like a psychic laugh. She grabbed Rogue and shouted, "NO!" Rogue was too stunned to say anything before the _BOOM!_

_"FATHER!"_ Wanda shrieked. The dive-bombing drone rather happily exploded. Rogue yelped as a piece of shrapnel passed right through Kitty's head and the girl went down.

"Let meh _go!_" Rogue shouted at Jean. "KITTY!"

"She's _fine_ Rogue!" Jean said, her grip firm. "It didn't hit her- she was just stunned by it!"

Kitty was scrambling to her feet, trying to get away from Wanda as fast as humanly possibly. Wanda was radiating blue energy, and it was making just about ever dangerous object on the obstacle course head towards the others. Colossus jumped in front of the girls and turned into metal, deflecting several pieces of shrapnel that were flying towards them.

"'Oly shit!" Pyro shouted as he dodged a projectile that looked quite a lot like a circular saw blade. "What the 'ell just 'appened!"

"I don't- _shit!_" Rogue shrieked. "_Peter, hit the dirt!"_ Colossus obeyed. Rogue threw herself and Jean down as wave of blue energy erupted from Wanda in all directions. Kitty was hit and went tumbling head over heals, and lay very still. "Kitty!" Rogue shouted again. Her roommate didn't move. She looked at the massive amount of flying debris, twisting trees and warped ground in front of her, then at Jean. "Call th' professor. Colossus, you stay here an' protect Pyro an' Jean. Ah gotta get Kitty out of there."

"Rogue you can't do that!" Jean burst out. "You'll be killed!"

Rogue inhaled and looked at the older girl firmly. "Ah'm a team leader an' Logan put meh in charge Jean. Ah'll be as careful as Ah can, but Kitty's not gonna make it if she stays in there!"

Wanda's powers had now formed some sort of hex-field, within which the entire world was going crazy. Trees seemed to be trying to rip themselves out of the ground and march towards them. The ground itself was churning, rolling in some places, erupting in others. Wanda was clearly having some sort of breakdown. She was shrieking "_LIES! ALL LIES!_" and looked just about ready to blow the whole mansion up if she could figure out a way.

"Pyro," Rogue snapped, "cause a distraction."

"Are you outta your bloody _mind?_" Pyro said, taking a step back with wide eyes. "There's no way in 'ell I'm going to-"

Rogue walked right up to him and grabbed him by the collar. "You'll do exactly as Ah say, or Ah swear t' got Ah'll _throw you in there_!" She indicated the hex field with a jerk of her head. Her eyes were blazing with such fury that Pyro could do nothing but nod dully. "Jean! The Professor!" Rogue said again. Jean opened her mouth to protest, but Rogue plunged headfirst into the hex-field.

Rogue almost immediately regretted it. Her head felt like it was splitting open. Dozens of voices were screaming in her head all at once. She staggered, nearly fell, straightened herself out and blocked out all other thoughts but '_Save Kitty_'. Slowly, haltingly, Rogue came closer and closer to her roommate, and the voices in her head kept getting louder and _louder_.

Pyro looked like he was ready to bolt when Jean shouted at him "Rogue needs a _distraction!_" She could tell how violently the hex-field was effecting the southerner's mind.

"Right, _right!_" He said, sounding less than thrilled. "'Ey Sheila!" He shouted, "You know you look really 'ott when you're angry!" Pyro let loose a jet of flame that went past Wanda on the right side.

"YOU!" She boomed, as she turned to look at him. "_YOU KNEW ABOUT THIS, DIDN'T YOU? YOU WERE THE ONE THAT LEAD ME TO HIM!"_

"Huh? Whassat?" Pyro blinked. Wanda's attention was on him now, and he realized what a health hazard that was at the moment. "Led you to whom!"

"_MY FATHER! WHEN HE IMPLANTED ALL THESE **LIES** INTO MY MIND!_"

"Oh bloody fuckin' 'ell!" Pyro said, his eyes wide with terror. Wanda roared and threw a jet of blue light at him. Pyro barely had time to shriek and dive to one side.

----------------

"What-?" Beast said, jerking his head up. "Can any of you hear that?"

The Professor looked at him. "Hear what Hank?"

"I thought I heard some sort of. . . Well I'm not sure. . ."

"If you're hearing anything through this many layers of dirt and reinforced steel it would have to be a full fledged _explosion_," Magneto informed him. "Even with your keen hearing."

"Are you sure it's not just-" the professor began.

_**Professor!** _Jean's voice shouted in his head, _Wanda's gone ballistic! Rogue, Kitty and Pyro are in grave danger! I think Mastermind's mental rewrites have broken down!_

"Oh god no," the Professor said. "Senior students and staff, we're going upstairs- _now_. We've got a major situation. Bobby, Alex, Amara, Illyana- you should come too ." He paused. "Erik, Pietro. . . Maybe you should stay here."

It was Kurt that said what everyone was thinking when those two were specifically asked to sit out. "Oh no. Wanda. . ."

"Ihavetogohelp!" Pietro said indignantly. "She'smysister!"

"I have to advise you against-" the Professor began.

"We'll both be going Charles," Magneto interrupted.

"Erik, I don't think that's wise," Professor Xavier said.

"Perhaps not, but it is I who caused this mess in the first place. It was only a matter of time before I would have to clean it up," Magneto put on his helmet, which he had taken off for the class. "Nightcrawler," he said. Kurt looked at him nervously. "I need you to take me outside."

"Vhat?" Nightcrawler said. "Shouldn't we all go up together?"

"No. That will put more people in danger. Wanda wants me."

"Erik, it's best if you have some sort of backup," Xavier pointed out. "We'll all go up at once."

"I'm sorry Charles, we'll just have to agree to disagree," Magneto said. He nodded at his son. "I'll see you outside." He placed a hand on Nightcrawler's shoulder. "Please," he said.

"Kurt-!" Logan said loudly, but the German and Magneto puffed away in a cloud of smoke. Pietro was gone soon afterwards in a gust of wind.

"Everyone else, into the elevators and outside, quickly!" The professor said. _Help is on it's way Jean!_ he thought. "Hank, stay here with the younger students.

"Are you sure Charles?" Beast said tentatively. "I could be of help."

"Right now I think nothing's more important than makin' sure those kids don't wind up in the middle of the battlefield," Logan said.

"I concur. Trust me Hank, I'll let you know if we need you," Xavier said solemnly. Beast nodded his acceptance. As they piled into the elevators they could actually feel the ground shake ever so slightly.

"I hope we don't have to rebuild this place _again_," Bobby moaned.

"Frankly Bobby I'd rather rebuild the place then have it standing but no one left to live in it," Illyana said darkly.

"You're a real downer, you know that?" The young man shot back.

"Cut it out you two," Alex said. They all piled into the elevator and ascended in frightened silence.

------------------

As Wanda's attention was directed towards the unfortunate Pyro, Rogue felt the voices in her head retreat somewhat, at least enough for her to get to Kitty and still be thinking clearly. "Hey, Kitty!" Rogue said. "C'mawn Kitty, you've gotta get up."

Her roommate lay there, still immobile, still unconscious.

"Shit," Rogue said. She really didn't want to use her powers within Wanda's hex-field. God only knew what would happen. Still she didn't have a choice. Rogue stripped her glove off. She hesitated for a fraction of a second when she realized she'd probably be fishing out things about Kitty and Lance that she did not want to, but this was not the time to be squeamish. Or to respect Kitty's privacy for that matter. Rogue touched her face and took her phasing power just in time. The ground beneath them erupted into a mountain of spikes, which would have impaled them both if Rogue hadn't phased them through it.

Pyro was running from blue hex bolts when he tripped and crashed into the ground. Jean threw up a telekinetic shield around him. The bolt hit the shield, effectively shattering it and sending Jean reeling backwards. Colossus jumped in front of them, ready to take the blows himself.

"WANDA!" The assault of hex-bolts paused. Jean gawked at Magneto, standing tall in front of his daughter's hex-field. "Let's stop this now."

Pietro came whizzing up to stand next to his father. "Yeah Wanda! No one has to get hurt!"

Rogue, toting Kitty, came up alongside Jean. "Holy shit. . ." She said, seeing Magneto and Pietro. "Are they insane? Wanda's gonna _kill_ them!"

"Dhey insisted on coming up here-" Kurt said, coming up besides the girls and Pyro. "Vhat happened to Kitty?"

"Hex bolt to the head," Rogue said.

"Is she okay!"

"Honestly, Ah dunno," she replied as she laid Kitty down on safer ground. "But Ah don' think she's any less okay than we're gonna be if this keeps up-" she gestured at the hex-field, which was growing by about an inch a minute.

"_YOU! YOU LEFT ME THERE!"_ Wanda shrieked at Magneto.

"I know," he said quietly.

"_DO YOU KNOW WHAT THEY DID TO ME IN THERE!"_

"No. Not until recently. Not until you started having these nightmares. . ."

Wanda seemed slightly taken aback by this. "_You knew about them?_"

"You told me you had a nightmare a while back and I asked Charles to monitor you and see if they continued," Magneto said quietly. "Mastermind sent you the nightmares in the first place and I wanted to make sure he wasn't continuing to do so."

At this point in the conversation the other senior members of the X-Men and the staff came running out of the mansion just in time to see Wanda strike Magneto down with a massive hex bolt. _"YOU WERE THE ONE WHO USED HIM ON ME IN THE FIRST PLACE!"_

"Father!" Pietro said as there was a sickening _crack_ and Magneto fell to his knees.

"Ah, God!" Magneto said. "I think she broke my arm." The appendage was hanging in a manner that didn't look physically possible- unless, perhaps, you were Reed Richards.

"Wanda! Please, you must calm yourself," Xavier said mentally and verbally.

"_CALM MYSELF!_" Wanda roared. "_YOU'RE AS BAD AS HIM! YOU **LET** HIM LIE TO ME!_"

"It was for your own good," Xavier said quietly. "We were going to let you know slowly what had happened. To try and ease you into-"

"_ENOUGH!_" Wanda yelled, and the Hex-field expanded in all directions around her, engulfing all the X-Men and Brotherhood members within it.

Every metal object within the field went shooting towards Magneto as his powers reversed upon themselves. Pietro tried desperately to deflect some of the more dangerous items, but he was moving at a rate that was slower than molasses. Jean was having much more success at his job. Her powers seemed to have been oddly strengthened by the hex-field and she was able to divert the blades and other thing until Magneto all ready had a large coating of metal objects all over his body that could serve as protection.

Rogue had doubled over in pain, clutching her head. Kurt was trying to comfort her while teleporting them and Kitty out of the way of various flying objects. Wherever Kurt tried to teleport to he wound up in a different spot. Finally he decided that it was better to risk taking his chances with whatever flew at him rather than ending up part way spliced into a tree and stopped.

Scott charged into the fray with a cry of, "Aim to disable her!" Remy and the younger X-Men followed right on his heels.

"Let's all chill!" Iceman said, throwing his arms out in an attempt to freeze Wanda and stop her from directing her Hex powers.

"Iceman- _no!_" Illyana shouted too late. Wanda's powers redirected Bobby's and covered all the charging X-Men in a thick layer of ice up to their necks.

Amara was able to burn herself free in a few seconds, and she ran over to Scott. "Let me help. . ."

"N- n- no!" Scott shivered. "It your powers are h- hex- hexed we could all wind up b- b- barbecued."

Amara looked devastated by the idea. "But-"

"H- h- help the p- p- professor," Cyclops ordered.

Amara nodded and ran towards the professor who had been knocked out of his wheelchair by a tree branch.

"Come on guys-" Lance said loudly to the Brotherhood boys. "Let's show them how this is done!"

"Uh. . .yeah. . ." Toad said, hiding behind Blob. "You do that Lance."

"Hey! What's the matter with you?" Lance growled. "We gotta go help."

"Heh, yeah, 'cept that my snooky-pie out there. . . Snooky-pie and I don't fight."

Lance looked at Blob. "Freddy?"

Blob picked up Toad.

"No! No, no, no, no, no!" Toad yelped.

"Fastball Special!" Blob yelled, hurling Toad at Wanda.

"Noooooooooooooo!" Toad screamed as he flew through the air.

Wanda's concentration was on her father and Xavier, so when Toad hit her square in the back she reeled and her hex-field wavered.

"_What the hell?_" Wanda shouted at Toad, hauling him up.

"Eh heh. . . Hi cupcake!" Toad said quietly.

With an angry roar she threw Toad out of her way, only to find herself wrapped up in Blob's arms.

_"Let GO of me!"_ She shouted.

"No way Wanda," Lance said. He stretched his arms out if front of him. The ground rippled and cracked. "Quick, put her in the hole!" Lance said to Blob.

Blob wasn't nearly fast enough. Lance's power turned on him in an instant. The ground beneath him splintered, rippled and exploded. Lance cried out as he was thrown back into the trees. One of them reached down and started swiping at him. "Argh!" Lance shouted. "Get this compost heap offa me!"

"Wanda, please!" Xavier cried out. "You must stop this!" He looked over at Storm. "Ororo, Peter, try to help Cyclops and the others."

"Of course Charles," Storm said, She approached the large block of ice that contained most of the X-Men and started to thaw them out with hot air and lightning. She started work on Cyclops, while Colossus began chipping away at Havoc's block. Pyro joined in after a minute, beginning on the block of ice that contained Illyana. When Illyana was freed, she set to work on thawing Bobby with a spell that summoned heat.

"If you don't cut this out kid, I might just have to get serious-" Logan grunted at Wanda. However he was having a hard time just standing still. His entire body was slowly shifting to the left, towards Magneto and Pietro. Pietro, seeing Logan's movements, decided that in his current condition he should probably start running out of the way now, so when Logan finally did fly towards his father he didn't get sandwiched in the middle.

"_HE LIED TO ME! HE LEFT ME IN THAT- THAT GOD AWFUL PLACE_-" Wanda choked back tears.

"It is one of the biggest regrets of my life Wanda!" Magneto shouted, struggling to get his powers back under his control.

"_LIAR!_" Wanda responded. "_YOU LEFT ME TO SUFFER THERE! YOU LEFT ME TO DIE!_"

The ground around her exploded into puffs of dust and dirt which got into Blob's eyes and mouth. Choking and trying to get the sand out of his eyes, Blob dropped Wanda who immediately threw a hex bolt at her father.

"Erik!" Xavier shouter. Magneto was unable to move in order to protect himself, and Pietro was still moving in slow motion, unable to help. It was Magick who leapt in front of Magneto, trying to cast a quick shielding spell. The hex-bolt hit Illyana square in the chest before she could react. She hit the ground hard.

"Illyana- NO! Colossus shouted, breaking away from Storm and the others. He scrambled over towards his fallen sister.

"Ohhh. . . My head. . ." Kitty groaned. She looked up, saw Kurt and the blue tinted landscape around her and her eyes went wide. "Like, what the hell is going on?"

"Shut up, shut up, _shut up!_" Rogue exploded, holding her head and rocking back and forth.

"I'm just, like, asking a simple question!" Kitty said. Then she realized Rogue wasn't talking to her per se. "Kurt? What's happening?"

"Ve have a little problem. . ." Kurt said, pointing at Wanda, who was now advancing upon her father with a body nearly coated in blue energy.

"Oh." Kitty watched Wanda until a streak of silver caught her eye. "Peter!" She said ad a large, red demon hurled Colossus halfway across the lawn. "Kuuuuuuuuuurt?" Kitty said, grabbing Nightcrawler's arm. "We've got another problem. Another _big_ problem!"

"Vhat?" Kurt turned to look where Kitty was pointing. "Oh. _Scheiße._"

Illyana was on an intercept course with Wanda. She barked out a word that didn't sound human, and small vortexes began opening up all over the mansion grounds. Out of them crawled an assortment of very angry looking demon creatures. The biggest one, who had hurled Colossus through the air like he was a rag doll stood behind the blonde. Illyana looked out around the hex-field at the scattered members of the X-Men and the brotherhood. She glanced at the throng of demons standing behind her and said two words.

"Sic 'em."

The demons leapt upon the X-Men in overwhelming numbers. Wanda's hex field was shrinking, as she was concentrating on her goal. Around her the effects of her power were fading. Lance was dropped by a sycamore as it once again became a still tree, the metal began to fall from Magneto's body, and Pietro found he was starting to move at reasonable speeds again. Rogue stopped shaking, much to Kitty's relief, as it looked for a moment like Rogue might be self possessed again.

"Scott!" Jean said, flinging three demons away from Cyclops as he tried to blast several that were trying to box in Storm. "We have to stop Magick!"

"I'm open to ideas Jean!" Cyclops shouted back, blasting another of the tiny imps that had come for him.

"Ah c'n do it," Rogue said quietly. "If Ah take her powahs, maybe these midgets will go _away,_" she said, kicking one away from her and moving with Kurt and Kitty towards the other X-Men.

A bruised Lance opened a huge pit in the ground beneath them, swallowing ten demons at a go, then closing the rift he had formed. "Jesus! We just had to get _two_ wackjobs going off at the same time!"

"Illyana's not a wackjob Lance!" Kitty said. "She's just got some. . .dark powers."

"Well her 'dark powers' are kicking our asses!" Lance replied. The X-Men and the Brotherhood were in one large cluster now, flanked on all sides by demons.

"You just have to bring everyone down, don't you Alvers?" Scott said bitterly.

"Shut up Summers!"

Havoc just barely vaporized one of the smaller demons before it took a bite out of his arm. "They're still popping up! Everywhere."

"Just hold your positions and watch each other's backs!" Scott said. "And Alvers- stuff it!"

Lance was going to reply, but the leaping demons cut him off.

-----------------

"This isn't fair," Ray complained. "We should be out there helping, instead of being grounded down here."

"Personally-" Jamie said, listening to the rumblings that were now easily ascertainable down in the Danger Room, "I'm _glad_ we aren't up there."

"I agree with Ray," Tabitha said. "Why am I here at the kiddie table when Illyana, Bobby, Alex, and the others are outside?"

"Now, Tabitha, I'm sure the professor had a good reason for picking whom he did," Beast said with a soft smile.

"Yeah," Roberto interjected. "He probably didn't need another crazy person making a mess up there."

Tabitha blew into her hands, making a dozen blowing firecracker balls. "Why you little jerk!" She threw one at his head. "Take this!"

Roberto dodged, and flared up into his sunspot form. "Right back atcha!" He replied, throwing a glob of power at her.

"Roberto- Tabitha- cut it out!" Beast ordered. "We don't need another ruckus going on down here!"

"She started it!

"I did not!"

"Yes you did!"

"You were the one making snide comments you-"

"Uh, guys?" Sam said loudly.

"What!" Tabitha and Roberto snapped at him simultaneously.

"What th' hell is that?" Sam asked, pointing to several glowing pentagrams that appeared on the floor. After a few moments three foot demons pulled themselves out of the holes, and came towards the younger X-Men, licking their chops.

"I believe the word you were looking for was 'trouble', Sam," Beast informed the boy.

The demons advanced upon them with glee in their eyes.

-----------------

"You," Illyana said, pointing at Wanda. "You dared to attack the Sorceress Supreme of Limbo!"

Wanda's focus finally turned from her father. "_What the hell?_" She said, glaring at Illyana.

"Hell indeed," Illyana said. "Strike!" She commanded, raising her arm high and bringing it down.

The huge red demon that had come forth before any of its cousins reached out and swatted Wanda to one side. Wanda yelped and crumbled to the ground, her hex-field totally dissolving when she hit the floor.

"I'll help you sugar lump!" Toad shouted, leaping onto the demon's head. "Nyah, nyah!" He teased the big red brut. "You can't hit me!"

Taking this challenge all too much to heart, the demon reached up to crush Toad with one enormous and spiny hand. As it brought the hand down, Toad jumped away, letting the demon smack itself on the nodding with enough force to send it reeling.

Illyana watched this without amusement. She shouted a guttural phrase and five or six smaller demons leapt up to restrain Toad. "That's enough out of you," she said. Wit ha wave of her hand she dismissed the stunned large demon and advanced upon Wanda. "No one makes a fool out of me," she hissed. "No one!"

Illyana raised her soulsword and brought it down to impale Wanda on the glowing blade. The X-Men watched the whole thing as if it were in slow motion. The blade was coming down, Wanda was unable to react-

- and then Magneto was suddenly in front of her, taking the blade in the chest himself.

"_Father!_" Wanda shrieked. She tossed a hex at Illyana and the girl staggered backwards. The demons who had been fighting with the various members of the X-Men exploded into nothing, leaving piles of black soot where they had once been standing. Illyana sat down abruptly with a very stunned look on her face and was immediately confronted by Professor Xavier.

_Sleep Illyana. Sleep_, he commanded mentally. The girl complied, laying down on the ground. Colossus rushed over to her side and picked her up.

"What hez happened to her?" He gasped. "Will she beh all right?"

"She'll be fine-" Xavier said. He looked over towards his old friend. "Erik? _Erik!_"

Magneto was clutching a bad wound to the right side of his chest. Pietro was in the process of tearing off his father's armor and wrapping his cloak around the wound as quickly and tightly as he could. "Considering the circumstances," Magneto said in a strained tone, "I think I'm all right Charles."

Wanda was staring at her father, completely blank. "You- you-" she stammered at him.

He smiled at her in a pained manner. "I know that I can't make up for my mistakes very easily, Wanda, but I hope you'll let me try to."

Wanda shivered, then burst out into tears, hugging her father around the neck. She wasn't coherent at all, but Magneto patted her on the back and kept repeating "It's okay" despite the fact that he had no idea what she was saying. Kurt took them both inside to the infirmary, and then went to the danger room to retrieve Beast and the other students.

"Vhat happened here?" Kurt said, wide eyed. Jamie looked like he had nearly been eaten, Tabitha and Roberto didn't look so hot either (he was hopping along with Tabitha as a crutch) and Sam was hauling a beat up looking Beast.

"There was a whole swarm of these _demons_," Ray said, looking shell-shocked. "I can't believe we made it out alive. . ."

Kurt made a face and muttered "You can dhank Wanda for getting rid of them at least. Cr. McCoy?" Kurt waved a hand in front of Beast's eyes. "Are you all right?"

"I'll be fine Kurt," Beast said groggily. "Just a little beat up, that's all. Is everyone else all right?"

"Vell, besides dhe fact dhat Magneto took a sword to the chest, everyone's. . . stable."

Beast looked at Kurt and repeated "A sword in the chest?" trying to make sure he had heard properly.

"Yeah," Kurt said. "Illyana went a little crazy after Wanda his her with a hex bolt," Nightcrawler explained.

"Ah. . . So _that's_ where' the demons came from," the furry teacher nodded.

"Yeah," Kurt nodded. "I'll take him to the infirmary Sam," he nodded at the southerner.

"Y'all be careful with him, ya hear?" Sam said. Kurt nodded and he and Beast vanished in a puff of brimstone.  
When they reappeared it was in the infirmary which was populated by several members of the X-Men and the Brotherhood. Freddie was suffering from bad eye irritation. Lance was scratched and bruised up from his wrestling match with the tree. Scott was shivering, apparently still recovering from his little stint in Bobby's ice, as was Alex and Gambit. Rogue was laying down, and trying to close her eyes and rest, but every now and then twitching and sitting bolt upright. Bobby's pride had largely been the only thing hurt and he was dispensing ice to Jean, who was putting it on various bruises and whatnot. Logan, naturally, was fully recovered from any injuries he might have had and was passing over the kids, administering basic first aid.

"TOAD!" He shouted at the boy, who was jumping at every little noise since the demons had grabbed him. "Sit the hell down!"

"Yessir. Right away sir-!" He stammered, sitting abruptly.

"Logan, please," Storm implored, "the boy is frightened enough as it is."

Xavier was soothing Wanda before he moved onto Illyana and looked over at Beast with a sad smile. "I'm afraid you've got your work cut out for you Hank."

"I can see that Charles," Beast said mournfully. There was a brief mental exchange in which they filled each other in of what had happened. Beast walked over to Magneto. "Well, this wound doesn't look like it went too deep," He said, examining the sword wound. "Just enough to be dangerous if left untreated. Luckily for you, I'm quite qualified. We'll deal with this first, then your arm."

"Thank you Dr. McCoy," Erik grunted.

"You're welcome," he returned, getting his tools ready.

"Professor? Can I talk to you?" Jean asked, coming up behind the professor as he left the infirmary. He had taken care of Wanda and Illyana and was going to take a short break before tackling any residual problems with Rogue.

"Of course Jean," he said wearily. "What is it?"

"Professor- I think someone triggered Wanda's breakdown."

The Professor's brows furrowed. "What gives you that idea?"

"I- I felt something," Jean said. "There was- there was something- someone there, mentally, not physically. They- _she_-" Jean corrected herself, "targeted Wanda specifically."

As Jean talked, Charles Xavier began to understand. "It was an attack," he said in awe. "A direct attack on us."

"Professor?" Jean inquired.

"Jean, I'm going to need all the senior students and staff that are available in my office right away," he said. "We're under attack."

-----------------

Emma Frost lined her students up. Those who were brainwashed stood off to the right, the others to the left. "It's time to make our move," she said to her students. "Xavier and his students are willing to simply roll over and let the humans walk all over us. I am not," she looked at the Hellions most of whom were grinning, "and neither are you."

Her eyes flickered towards the white van that they were standing by. In the back, with his powers suppressed, was Jono. He was locked out of sight, and only semi conscious, as Manuel had been battering him with powerful emotions all day and night.

"So it's time to take power," Frost said. "It's time to show the world what we are made of, and take out the competition."

She smirked, her eyes flashing.

"It's time to raise a little hell."

----------------

A/N: I bet you never thought you'd see another update. But guess what? Here's another update. And guess what? There's gonna be another one, a LOT quicker than this one. And after that?

Season Six. What I like to call the S.O.S season. It's a double meaning, the usual meaning of 'S.O.S.' And it also stands for 'Summer of Sinister'.

So sit tight, because Season Five is drawing to a long anticipated end.

By the way, you've now read over 200 pages of Season Five. Congratulations!


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